Support for the racial justice protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death in May, as well as for the Black Lives Matter movement, has dropped in recent months, according to polling released on Thursday.
By a 52% to 45% margin, respondents said they do support the protests and demonstrations that have taken place across the country after the death of Floyd, a Black man, while in Minneapolis police custody, according to the Axios/SurveyMonkey polling.
But support has dropped 10 percentage points since June.
A majority — 54% — said they have a favorable view of the Black Lives Matter movement, but that was down eight points since June.
By a 55% to 42% margin, respondents said they oppose cutting funding for police in order to boost money for social services.The polling also suggested that the ongoing unrest could be helping President Trump among people who say they don’t feel as safe in their communities.
Majorities of suburban and rural Americans said they feel “very safe” in their communities, while 40% of Americans living in urban areas said they feel the same.
Among white suburban females who said they feel “very safe,” Joseph R. Biden had a 19-point, 55% to 36% lead over Mr. Trump when it came to respondents’ presidential preferences.
Among those who said they don’t feel safe, Mr. Trump held an 8-point, 42% to 34% lead.
Among white suburban males, Mr. Trump held a 5-point lead over Mr. Biden among the “very safe” crowd and a 27-point lead among the “not safe” crowd.
Mr. Trump has warned that the deadly violence and unrest that has developed in cities like Portland, Oregon, would spread to the suburbs and other communities if Mr. Biden is elected.
The online poll of 35,732 U.S. adults was conducted from Aug. 31-Sept. 6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus one percentage point.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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