Nearly one in 10 Americans think it’s acceptable to hold white nationalist or neo-Nazi views, according to a new poll that also tracked President Donald Trump’s response to the violence that erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month.
The poll found 9 percent of Americans, equivalent to 22 million people, are OK with people having neo-Nazi views, and around 10 percent also support the white supremacist “alt-right” movement, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll.
The poll also found that 50 percent of Americans oppose the alt-right.
The findings spell bad news for Trump after his much-criticized response to violence and unrest in Charlottesville, where one woman was killed after a man with suspected neo-Nazi ties rammed his car into a crowd of people counterprotesting white supremacists who held a rally in the small college town.
When asked about Trump’s response to Charlottesville, 56 percent of people said they disapproved of what he said, compared to just 28 percent who approved of his response.
Similarly, 42 percent of people polled thought Trump put neo-Nazis and white supremacists on “equal standing” as the counterprotesters.
The poll also tracked Trump’s overall approval rating, which remains historically low.
Nearly 60 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Trump has done since taking office, and a strong gender gap persists among those who find Trump’s job performance favorable. Only 28 percent of women approve of Trump’s performance compared to 46 percent of men, according to the poll.
Older Americans also have a more favorable view of Trump, according to the poll: 47 percent of Americans age 50 and up approve of Trump’s time in office compared to just 22 percent of Americans who are younger than 30.
ABC News and Washington Post spoke to more than 1,000 people from Aug. 16 to Aug. 20. The margin of error is 3.5 points.
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