As concerns about terrorism mount in the United States, those who are the most worried about a terrorist attack say Donald Trump is their preferred presidential candidate, a new poll found.
However, the ABC/Washington Post survey also found that more Americans trust Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton than the top Republican candidates for president to fight terrorism.
“Terrorism has surged as an election issue since the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, and this ABC News/Washington Post poll finds Clinton with an 8-point lead over Trump in trust to handle it,” Langer Research Associate’s Chad Kiewiet de Jonge wrote in his article about the poll, “No Clear Advantage in Trust on Terrorism.”
“Among those who call it the top issue in their vote, though, Trump leads—by 25 points. That’s because concern about terrorism is especially high among Republicans and conservatives, and their trust in Clinton, on this and other issues, is very low. Those most concerned with the economy, by contrast, tend to be Democrats, and far prefer Clinton, including on terrorism.”
The poll found that Clinton maintains a slight lead on terrorism against Trump among registered voters, a 7-point advantage in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates.
“That’s not so with other top GOP contenders; Clinton leads most of them among all adults—though (Jeb) Bush and (Marco) Rubio are within the margin of error—but not among those who are registered,” de Jonge wrote. “This reflects the customary GOP edge in registration—clearly damaging to the Democrats if left unaddressed.”
In terms of Trump’s position on terrorism moving from the GOP contest to a general election, he leads among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents by a wide margin as most trusted to deal with the issue.
“When Trump is tested against Clinton, though, 21 percent of leaned Republicans prefer her, contributing to her advantage over Trump on terrorism among all Americans,” de Jonge wrote. “That said, 42 percent of leaned Republicans and 40 percent of conservatives cite terrorism as the most important issue in the election, compared, for example, with 18 percent of leaned Democrats and 15 percent of liberals.
“Leaned Republicans and conservatives also are much more likely to see an attack as likely and to doubt the government’s capacity to prevent it. As a result, among Americans who view the threat of terrorism as the most important issue in the 2016 election (28 percent of adults), Trump leads Clinton by 65-35 percent in trust to handle it, with almost identical results for the other top GOP candidates. Similar patterns hold true for those who think that an imminent terrorist attack is very likely or who lack confidence the government can prevent one.”
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