UPDATE: PPP asked two different sets of questions. They asked a subset of “the GOP base” whether they think Islam should be banned and other questions about Islam; they did not ask Democrats the same questions. This is a pretty easy way to get a “Islamophobic Republicans!” headline.
ORIGINAL POST: When Democratic firm Public Policy Polling asked North Carolinians, “Do you think the religion of Islam should be legal or illegal in the United States?” did they expect these results?
PPP’s headline on their summary of the poll cites the ”Islamaphobia” of Trump supporters, but a sizable minority of every ideological demographic in the survey within this survey of GOP-leaning voters thinks Islam should be banned — 52 percent of self-identified “very liberal” North Carolinians, 33 percent of “somewhat liberal”, 27 percent of self-identified “moderates”, 26 percent of “somewhat conservative” respondents and 39 percent of “very conservative” ones.
We should note that only two percent of their 1,214-respondent 537-respondent GOP subsample identified themselves as “very liberal,” so that sub-sample would be just 11 people or so, and only 4 percent identified as “somewhat liberal,” about 21 people or so. Some may argue that larger samples of self-identified liberals would find less support; it would be fascinating to see other pollsters asking the question in other states.
It is hard to dispute that there is a segment – perhaps a quarter to a third — of the public that does not see Islam as compatible with American values or deserving of Constitutional protections.
Yesterday on Jake Tapper’s The Lead, CNN commentator S.E. Cupp and Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson had a revealing exchange:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=lBfr5hm4O0E
Pierson: Never in United States history have we ever allowed insurgents to come across these borders, and it’s worse now today, S.E., because the administration has been leading it-
Cupp: Who’s allowing insurgents? You’re talking about not allowing regular Muslims, that’s what you’re talking about! No one’s talking about insurgents. Who wants insurgents to come over? (crosstalk)
Pierson: Yes, of Arab nations! You know what? So what? They’re Muslim. The issue here is that we’re not trying to-
Cupp: ‘So what, they’re Muslim’? That’s not the America we live in–
Pierson: But it is! Simply because you have people coming across, through the refugee system and the visa system icluding the woman that came to San Bernardino on a visa system as well as some of the 911 hijackers. We have to put a pause to figure out how we can better vet these people.