70 Percent Of Americans Share Trump’s Opinion On Political Correctness
An overwhelming majority of Americans (70 percent) share U.S. President Donald Trump’s opinion on political correctness, a new survey has found.
In the wake of Tuesday’s New York City terrorist attack, Trump slammed political correctness in America and called for Congress to end the diversity visa lottery program under which the Uzbek immigrant charged with terrorism after the deadly truck attack that killed eight people and injured other 12 was granted a green card.
“We have to get much tougher,” Trump told reporters at the White House following the terrorist attack on Wednesday. “We have to get much smarter. And we have to get much less politically correct. We’re so politically correct that we’re afraid to do anything.”
Trump’s remarks were met with criticism in the media, but a new survey reveals that a vast majority of Americans actually share the President’s sentiment about political correctness, and at least 58 percent of Americans believe the “political climate prevents them from sharing their political beliefs.”
The new survey by the Cato Institute found that a whopping 70 percent of American citizens agree with Trump’s sentiment, “I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct,” voiced during the first Republican presidential debate in 2015.
At least 71 percent of Americans also believe “that political correctness has silenced important discussions our society needs to have.” The survey also showed that 59 percent of Americans wished they were able to express unpopular opinions in public, including those deeply offensive to other people.
The survey, which involved 2,300 adult respondents across the U.S., also revealed that the vast majority of Republicans and Independents (73 percent and 58 percent respectively) have to “keep some of their political beliefs to themselves,” while at least 53 percent of Democrats acknowledged they “do not feel the need to self-censor.”
According to the survey, 61 percent of Hillary Clinton voters admitted that it is “hard” to be friends with those who voted for Trump in 2016, while supporters of the President don’t share a similar sentiment, as only 34 percent of Trump voters said they found it difficult to be friends with Clinton voters.
Some 40 percent of Americans think the U.S. government should prevent hate speech in public, while 79 percent think it’s “morally unacceptable” to use hate speech against racial or religious groups.
Most American citizens also believe that many media outlets have a liberal bias, including the New York Times (52 percent), CNN (50 percent), and MSNBC (59 percent). Some 56 percent of Americans think Fox News has a conservative bias.
A majority (51 percent) of liberals also say it’s “morally acceptable” to punch a Nazi, while 65 percent of Republicans think NFL players who kneel during the national anthem should be fired.
[Featured Image by Drew Angerer/Getty Images]
