A new poll finds most Americans see the government shutdown as a significant problem as it drags on. The AP-NORC poll also finds there’s plenty of blame being cast on President Donald Trump as well as Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
Roughly 6 in 10 Americans say President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of responsibility for the shutdown, while 54% say the same about Democrats in Congress, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. At least three-quarters of Americans believe each deserves at least a “moderate” share of blame, underscoring that no one is successfully evading responsibility. The survey, conducted as the shutdown stretched into its third week, comes as leaders warn it could soon become the longest in history.
AP reporter Joey Cappelletti reported the story and spoke with some who participated in the poll. AP reporter Linley Sanders analyzed the data and made the data visualization and our data source is from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
-Karena, AP audience engagement editor
by APnews
15 Comments
Sure looks like “a pox on all their houses” is the vibe.
I think the question they ask is kind of misleading. If I think the Democrats are doing the right thing by causing this shutdown, I still think they’re causing it. I just think they’re right in doing so.
Is anyone really to “blame” for the shutdown? As far as I’m concerned it can stay shut down, billions of dollars have been saved with zero impact to the average american.
I think, at most times, the single-most popular sentiment is “the politicians are to blame.” I wonder what effect this would have on elections, given that both parties are blamed.
Waiting for the Dems to flinch the instant they encounter any actual pressure
I would love to see who people think is “most to blame”.
This same CR was passed 13 times under Biden.
Democrats have voted NO on this clean CR 10 times, today being the most recent. It has been ready to go since it passed the Repub House vote on September 19th.
This “beautiful data” doesn’t explain that this survey must allow for multiple answers? How can 58% of people blame Republicans AND 54% of people blame Democrats?
This is really confusing the more I look at it. No rows sum to 100% and the top row sums to 97%? That’s not a rounding error. And since we’re calculating percentages, there’s no excuse for these not to sum 100%.
The sub-title is telling me something the data isn’t. This is not showing me the percent of adults who say that X has SOLE responsibility for the shutdown. This is showing, of the people who think one party/person is responsible for the shutdown, the degree to which adults feel that party or person is responsible. That’s a different thing and can lead to weird results as this data shows, such as that 58 people out of 100 blame republicans while 54 people out of 100 blame Democrats (and don’t get me started with the completely separate cohort of 58 people who blame Trump).
So, long story…. 78% think everyone is to blame. The other 22% are doing that Spiderman pointing meme thing.
Dems really should just let Republicans remove rural Republicans from healthcare tbqh.
I’m tired of Dems falling on their sword for people who refuse to acknowledge what they do for them, so honestly, let god decide if they should live or die.
Ugh. The Republicans were nearly able to close the gap. When the shutdown started the gap was like 14%. Their bullshit rhetoric really works.
Part of me thinks Congressional Democrats should just let Republicans go ahead and cut the healthcare subsidies. Democrats are always protecting Americans from their stupidest decisions and worst instincts. Maybe let people live with the consequences of Republican rule and see how they like it. Rural areas and Republicans states that didn’t expand Medicaid will be the worst affected.
umm so…….
The Democrats are being blamed only slightly less. One could say almost equally.
I do not get the hard on DJT has against ACCA. And the entire Republican Partyfor that matter. The hill they want to die on is the poor should not have Health Coverage. Why? Why is it the MIC gets so much money. We spend Foreign Aid money like a sailor on first leave. But my god any monies to help the people that fund you is not acceptable. WTF?
I think i dislike the “both sides are at fault’ f*ckwits more than I dislike the fascists.
That “both sides are at fault” apathy is why we are in this mess to begin with.
whats stupid here is that the same dems that are blaming dems in congress for the shutdown, would be the same ones who eviscerate the dems in congress if they give in and sign the CR.
dems in congress learned there’s nothing to be gained by conceding because this is one of the few cases where the right wont quid pro quo
This is kinda dumb. Naturally it takes two to tango. Both sides are equally “to blame” for the shutdown. The difference is that one side is demanding changes that will cause a great deal of suffering for the people; while the other side is trying to stop that, so that the US continues to have it’s current amount of suffering for the people.