Politics

Poll: Enlisted Troops Love Trump

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Jonah Bennett Contributor
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Enlisted troops exhibit strong support for President Donald Trump, but the same is not at all the case for military officers, women and minorities, a new poll shows.

The poll, conducted by the Military Times in September, reveals that 44 percent of all 1,100 active-duty troops have a favorable view of Trump and only 40 percent have an unfavorable view. This flips the figures present in the civilian population, where Trump’s popularity hovers around 40 percent and his rating of unfavorability reaches as high as 56 percent.

Trump’s popularity jumps even higher among military-specific issues. Out of all troops, 55 percent rate Trump’s military policies as favorable, while only 26 disagree with that assessment.

When the data is broken down between enlisted troops and officers, the divide between enlisted troops and officers becomes clearer. A total of 48 percent of enlisted troops approve of Trump, but only 30 percent of officers hold the same view. In fact, 53.4 percent of officers hold an unfavorable view of Trump.

The same split seems to occur between men and women and whites and non-whites.

For example, 47 percent of military males have a favorable rating of Trump, compared to just 32 percent for women.

A total of 51 percent of non-white service members have an unfavorable rating of Trump, while only 37 percent of white service members do.

There are also differences across the services. The Marine Corps features a favorable rating of 59 percent, compared to 49 percent in the Navy.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis received a much higher rate than Trump, with more than 84 percent of troops saying they held a favorable view of him. Retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, who serves as the White House chief of staff, received a favorable rating of almost 59 percent. Only seven percent had an unfavorable view of Kelly, as Kelly is not nearly as well-known as either Trump or Mattis.

The poll, which has a margin of error of 3 percent, was conducted from September 7-25, before the recent Gold Star family controversy.

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