Trey Paul, FISM News
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After proving to be America’s most accurate national poll in the past five presidential elections, a TIPP Poll is once again generating buzz about what’s to come based on the results of its latest poll.
Based on an online poll taken from September 7-9, a majority of Americans think President Joe Biden is dividing the country (62%), endangering free speech (55%), and misusing the office of the president (58%). The poll follows Biden’s recent primetime speech where he bashed Trump supporters by accusing them of representing “an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
“As I stand here tonight, equality and democracy are under assault. We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise,” Biden said. “There’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans. And that is a threat to this country.”
The TIPP poll shows that 62% of Americans feel Biden’s comments about Trump and his MAGA followers “increases division in the country.” Just 29% disagreed.
Perhaps most surprisingly, Democrats (73%) were more likely to say that Biden’s MAGA comments increased division than either Republicans (50%) or independents (57%).
Former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D.-Hawaii) has been vocal about Biden’s divisive rhetoric and use of the Department of Justice against his political opponents.
Our president should be uniting our country. Instead, Biden is dividing us by demonizing tens of millions of Americans who voted against him or oppose his policies, and working with Big Tech and weaponizing our DOJ/security apparatus to undermine our freedoms. pic.twitter.com/3THVG0rxV1
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) September 12, 2022
This isn’t the first time pollsters noted the American public felt divided by Biden’s demonization of “MAGA Republicans.” According to another recent survey of likely voters conducted by the Trafalgar Group, 56.8% said that Biden’s speech represented “a dangerous escalation in rhetoric and is designed to incite conflict amongst Americans.”
The TIPP poll also found that 55% of Americans feared free speech is under attack because Biden’s characterization of Trump supporters “endanger Americans’ First Amendment rights to free speech and free assembly.” Only 34% disagreed.
Biden faced widespread backlash and criticism after he urged Democrats, independents, and mainstream Republicans to show up to the polls on Nov. 8 to fight off “extreme” Trump supporters.
“We’re at a serious moment in our nation’s history,” Biden said. “The MAGA Republicans don’t just threaten our personal rights and economic security, they’re a threat to our very democracy. They refuse to accept the will of the people, they embrace political violence.”
The majority of those polled in the TIPP poll also believe Biden’s remarks were “uncouth” and politically biased use of his White House position. Only 30% disagreed with that notion, according to the poll.
Biden’s comments combined with these latest poll results are a far cry from the vow he gave during his 2021 inauguration speech when he claimed he would “unify” the country after the Trump administration.
The president has made repeated comments about the threats that “MAGA Republicans” pose to America.
“Look, extreme MAGA Republicans don’t just threaten our personal rights and our economic security, they embrace political violence,” he said. “There’s no democracy where you can be pro-insurrection and pro-democracy. So when I say that democracy is at stake, I mean what I’m saying, literally.”
In February, a Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service Battleground Civility Poll found that 43% of voters believed politics had gotten less civil since President Biden took office.
“The President has repeatedly talked about bringing more civil discourse to our politics. However, most voters (60%) think politics has been less civil. It is challenging to find common ground for growth when most voters think that ground has gotten less fertile over the last two years,” said Ed Goeas of The Tarrance Group.
It is a tribute to the fundamental optimism of the American electorate that voters continue to have hope for the future despite their reasonable frustrations with the present. The real question that cannot be answered with a survey is how we get the political environment to a point that that optimism can truly grow.
The recent TIPP poll’s margin of error is +/- 2.8 percentage points.