Better than two in every three people polled in a new HBO Real Sports /Marist poll feels President Donald Trump was out of bounds in calling for the firings of NFL players who kneel during the national anthem.
Politico reports the poll of 1,093 respondents concluded that 68 percent of those polled found Trump is in the wrong , with a majority also expressing the league and its owners should not stand in the way of such demonstrations.
In all, 68 percent of respondents said Trump took the wrong course in demanding the protesting players be fired, compared to just 28 percent who agree with his hard-line stance.
Respondents were split right down the middle at 47 percent each on the question of if Vice President Mike Pence was justified when he recently bolted from an NFL game where several players kneeled in protest.
Demonstrations across the league have exploded ever since now former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the anthem last season as a form of protest against racial injustice and police brutality in the U.S.
Trump recently sounded the alarm during a rally in Alabama where he argued that protesting players be shown the door.
Overall, 51 percent of respondents said NFL owners should not make standing for the anthem mandatory, versus 47 percent who feel standing should be mandated.
Among black respondents, 76 percent said standing for the anthem should not be mandatory, with 56 percent of Latinos standing in agreement. A majority of white respondents, or 54 percent, said professional athletes should stand for the anthem.
A recent CNN poll also found that 52 percent of Americans stand in opposition to the tax reform plan now being proposed by Trump and Republicans lawmakers.
By comparison, just 34 percent of respondents support the plan.
Researchers found opinions of the plan are largely split along partisan lines, with 81 percent of Democrats rejecting it and seven-in-10 Republicans openly backing the plan.
Among independents, 50 percent of respondents are against the plan, compared to just 35 percent who stand in support of it.
In addition, half of all Americans disapprove of the way Trump is handling taxes, the highest level in CNN polling so far, compared with just with 36 percent of respondents who identified as supporters.
Early opposition to the plan comes despite the best efforts of Trump and GOP leaders to control perception of it and get it passed as quickly as possible.
[Featured Image by Chris Kleponis/Getty Images]
