Poll: Three-Quarters of Republicans Back Trump Using National Emergency to Build the Wall

Three-quarters of Republicans support President Donald J. Trump declaring a national emergency to build a wall along America’s southern border, according to a poll released on Wednesday.

Seventy-six percent of Republicans support President Trump declaring a national emergency to build a wall along the southern border, according to a Morning Consult/Politico survey released on Wednesday.

The poll found that 52 percent of Republicans “strongly support” Trump declaring a national emergency and 24 percent of Republicans somewhat support the president using emergency powers to build a wall.

In contrast, 71 percent of Democrats strongly oppose Trump using building the wall through a national emergency.

When given the choice of whether Trump should shut down the government, Trump should declare an emergency, or Trump should do neither of these options, a near majority of Republican voters said that Trump should declare a national emergency and 12 percent somewhat oppose such a measure.

Forty-seven percent of Republican voters said that Trump should declare a national emergency, 20 percent of Republican voters said that Trump should shut down the government again, and 22 percent said that Trump should do neither of these options.

The poll arises as President Trump recently ended the longest government shutdown in American history in his quest to obtain border wall funding. Congress has re-opened the government until February 15; however, Trump said that there remains a “good chance” he could declare a national emergency to build the wall if Congress will not fund the border wall.

Overall, 81 percent of Republicans approve of President Trump’s job performance, with 51 percent of GOP voters strongly approving of the president’s handling of the presidency.

The Morning Consult survey also suggested that Republican voters believe it’s increasingly unlike that Congress will provide funding for Trump to build the wall.

At the beginning of the shutdown, 54 percent of GOP voters said that it remains unlikely that Congress will provide full funding for Trump’s proposed border wall along the American southern border. Now, 64 percent of Republicans voters believe Congress will not likely provide full funding for the wall.

Amongst registered voters, Republicans hold an advantage on the issue of immigration. Forty percent of voters said that they trust Republicans in Congress to handle immigration, while 38 percent Democrats, and 21 percent of voters that they either did not know or did not have an opinion.

Forty-six percent of Republican voters, or a near majority, said that building a wall along the southern border wall serves as a top priority, and 30 percent of GOP voters said it was an important, but lower priority. Meanwhile, 50 percent of Democrats said that America should not build a wall.

Trump has continued to push Congress to pass a border security bill that contains border wall funding, although he has stated that if Congress cannot fulfill its duties to secure the country’s border, then he might declare a national emergency.

“I think we have a good chance,” Trump said at the White House last week. “We’ll work with the Democrats and negotiate and if we can’t do that, then obviously we’ll do the emergency because that’s what it is. It’s a national emergency.”