Politics

Support For Border Wall Jumps As More Americans Blame Trump For Shutdown

Mexico-US_border_at_Tijuana | Circa February 2017 | In order to comply with the use and licensing terms of this image, the following text must must be included with the image when published in any medium, failure to do so constitutes a violation of the licensing terms and copyright infringement: © Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons, via Wikimedia Commons

Support for a proposed border wall increased since January 2018, even as more Americans are blaming President Donald Trump for the partial shutdown, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll published Sunday.

Trump’s wall is winning adherents as support increased over the past year. Nearly 42 percent of subjects say they support a wall, which is up from 34 percent in January 2018. Fifty-four percent of Americans oppose the idea, down from a high of 63 percent in 2018.

The debate is a partisan one, the poll shows. Nearly 27 percent of the 54 percent of people who oppose the wall say Democrats should fight back against Trump’s demands for $5.7 billion for the barrier, while another 23 percent believe Democratic lawmakers should attempt to work on a compromise.

Slightly more than 42 percent of Democrats who oppose the wall say lawmakers should resist, while 37 percent say they should be more conciliatory. About 58 percent Republicans support the wall and say Trump should demand funding, compared with 22 percent who say he should cave on the barrier.

Trump should refrain from championing the new level of support, however, as the poll notes areas of concern for the president. For instance, more than half of Americans (53 percent) say Trump and the Republicans are at fault for the government shutdown, and 29 percent said it’s congressional Democrats’ fault.

The president told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer the shutdown could last nearly a year. The WaPo-ABC poll was conducted Jan. 8 to 11 among a random sample of 788 Americans — the results had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.