Voters say that President Donald Trump's inconsistent condemnations of racism have not discouraged white supremacists, according to a survey released this week.
A Quinnipiac poll published on Wednesday found that only 3 percent of voters believe that white supremacists have been demoralized by Trump's inconsistent statements about pro-Confederate marches and neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, CNN reported.
Although Trump has called out groups like the Ku Klux Klan in prepared statements, his off-the-cuff remarks about how "good" and "fine" people were marching with white supremacists in Charlottesville may have served to embolden bigots.
In fact, a majority of voters -- 59 percent -- said that Trump had encouraged white supremacists, while 35 percent thought the president's remarks had no impact.
"It's hard to say how mind-bogglingly rare it is to see a number like 3% in a poll question like this," CNN's Ryan Struyk observed. "To get a number this low, you need virtual unanimity across all groups: only 6% of Republicans, 4% of people over 65, 3% of whites and 3% of independents said white supremacists were discouraged by Trump's behavior and comments."
At a rally in Phoenix this week, Trump defended his reaction to al controversy.
"I said everything. I hit him with neo-Nazi. I hit them with everything. I got the white supremacists, the neo-Nazi. I got them all in there, let's say. KKK, we have KKK. I got them all," Trump told the crowd.
