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1 in 5 Americans have joined protests or rallies in reaction to Trump: Poll

Gun reform advocates line Pennsylvania Avenue while attending the March for Our Lives rally March 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

Tens of millions of Americans have joined protests and rallies in the past two years, often due to admiration or outrage toward President Donald Trump, a new poll reveals.

According to a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll published on Friday, One in five Americans have protested in the streets or participated in political rallies since the beginning of 2016.

Nineteen percent of participants said they had never before joined a march or a political gathering.

Thirty percent approve of the president, and 70 percent disapprove, the poll showed. And many said they plan to be more involved politically this year, with about one-third saying they intend to volunteer or work for a 2018 congressional campaign.

The poll also emphasized that public activism has changed in the 50 years since large street protests and rallies last dominated the political landscape. Back in the Vietnam War era, college students were the face of protests.  However, the findings showed that many activists are older, white, well-educated and wealthy now.

The Post-Kaiser poll is the most extensive study of rallygoers and protesters in more than a decade. In addition, it is one of the first attempts to quantify how many Americans are motivated by Trump to join these increasingly frequent political events.

My approval rating is '7 or 8 points' higher than what polls say: Trump

Trump on Friday insisted his approval rating is significantly higher than surveys suggest. He also suggested that voters will ultimately cast their ballots for him, regardless of what they tell pollsters.

"A poll just came out now, Rasmussen, it’s now 51," Trump said on "Bernie and Sid in the Morning" on WABC in New York. "They say that it’s 51 but add another 7 or 8 points to it," he continued. "They don’t want to talk about it, but when they get into the booth, they’re going to vote for Trump."

The poll conducted by RealClearPolitics put Trump's average approval rating at 41.5 percent.

Critics say that Trump’s divisive rhetoric and policies against immigrants and minorities before and after his election have emboldened far-right groups and promoted hate crimes across the country.


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