Roughly 50% of voters say racist charges against Trump politically motivated: Rasmussen poll

A new poll has tracked the nuances of racism charges that continue to surround President Trump.

“Voters are closely divided over whether President Trump is a racist, but one-in-three Democrats think it’s racism any time a white politician criticizes a politician of color,” said a Rasmussen Reports survey of 1,000 likely U.S. voters released Wednesday.

It found that 47% of all voters think Mr. Trump is a racist, down three percentage point from 50% revealed in a similar poll conducted 18 months ago.

Yet a near a majority of voters — 49% — now disagree and say the president’s opponents and critics are accusing him of racism “only for political gain.”

That has risen from 43% in the earlier survey.

“The partisan division of opinion couldn’t be any clearer,” the analysis said. “While 80% of Democrats believe the president is a racist, 85% of Republicans think the racism charges by his opponents are politically motivated.

“Voters not affiliated with either major party are evenly divided on the question,” the analysis noted. “Thirty-two percent of Democrats, however, say it’s racist for any white politician to criticize the political views of a politician of color. That’s a view shared by just 16% of both GOP and unaffiliated voters.”