Voters split on whether Trump is serious about going after political enemies: Survey

Voters are split on whether President-elect Trump is serious about going after his political enemies during his second stint in the White House, according to a new survey released on Thursday. 

The Monmouth University poll found that 48 percent of respondents said Trump is serious about going after his political foes, while another 47 percent said it was an exaggeration. 

The majority of Democrats, 77 percent, are taking the president-elect’s statements seriously. On the opposite end of the spectrum, most Republicans, 71 percent, view those statements as exaggerations. Only 21 percent of GOP voters are taking Trump’s remarks about retribution seriously, which is more than 10 points lower, 33 percent, than what it was in June, according to the survey. 

Just more than half of Americans, 52 percent, would be bothered by Trump’s effort to suspend some laws and constitutional provisions. In June, that figure was at around 65 percent. When split by party, 77 percent of Democrats said they would be bothered, significantly higher than independents at 55 percent. Only 23 percent of Republicans would be bothered a lot, according to the poll. 

“As recently as this week, Trump said those who investigated the Jan. 6 riot should go to jail. Still many Americans see this more as bombast than intent. If he is serious, however, he can probably bank on his fellow Republicans to stand behind him, or at least turn a blind eye,” Patrick Murray, the director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement. 

Around two-thirds of respondents, 67 percent, stated that the U.S. has become more divided since President Biden was sworn into office. The figure is similar, 70 percent, to when Trump’s first foray into the Oval Office was wrapping up. 

Only a small portion of voters, 10 percent, think the nation has gotten more united, while 23 percent said the polarization has remained unchanged, according to the survey. 

With Trump heading back to the White House, approximately one-third of voters, 34 percent, think the U.S. will become more united under his tenure. Just more than 1 in 4 respondents said the country will become more divided, while another 19 percent don’t think the matter will change at all, according to the poll. 

The survey was conducted Dec. 5-10 among 1,006 adults. The margin of error is 3.9 percentage points.