Most Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of El Paso & Dayton shootings, support gun control
A majority of Americans disapprove of the way President Donald Trump handled recent mass shootings here in El Paso and in Dayton, Ohio. That’s according to a newly released NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
That poll is the first to be conducted since the pair of Aug. 3 shootings that killed a total of 31 people.
It shows only about a third of Americans approved of Trump’s response to the shootings, while 52% disapproved.
“Americans typically rally around their president in times of national tumult and tragedy,” said pollster Jeff Horwitt . “Yet again in his response to the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, we see that Americans view Donald Trump and his reactions to national tragedies far differently.”
Authorities say the accused El Paso gunman was a white supremacist who told police he targeted Hispanics in his massacre. The poll found an overwhelming 68% of Americans are fearful of another attack by white nationalists.
A majority of Americans polled also voiced their support for numerous gun control measures, including:
89% support background checks for all firearms sales and transfers. 76% support “red flag” laws allowing police to temporarily restrict firearms access for those determined to be a threat to themselves or the public 75% support gun buyback programs 62% support an assault weapons ban
The NBC/WSJ poll surveyed 1,000 adults and was conducted from Aug. 10-14. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. (You can view the poll data below.)
