Donald Trump's Winning Over Some LGBTQ+ Voters
Donald Trump is winning over a significant portion of voters in the LGBTQ+ community, a report from Data for Progress has discovered this month.The progressive polling firm analyzed the responses of nearly 900 LGBTQ+ adults and found 22 percent had a favorable view of the former president.While more supported President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, the respondents were split on whether the Biden administration is doing better or worse than they expected.Just under half (45 percent) said Biden has done better, while 47 percent said he is doing worse than anticipated.
And 70 percent of LGBTQ+ adults who identify as Democrats want the party to do more to protect transgender and queer Americans from anti-LGBTQ+ laws.Still, 57 percent of those surveyed indicated they had a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, and 51 percent said the same about Biden.But if Trump can bring in the support of even a quarter of the group that traditionally has gone to the Democratic candidate, there could be implications for election results.The higher support for Trump might come down to the policy issues LGBTQ+ Americans are prioritizing this election cycle.
The survey responses said the economy, jobs and inflation were a top issue at 27 percent, with LGBTQ+ issues and abortion issues lower at 15 and 10 percent respectively."They are hard to poll in a national survey," Paul Beck, a professor emeritus of political science at The Ohio State University, told Newsweek. "That said, we should never assume that their preferences are driven solely by LGBTQ issues."Still, Michael Montgomery, a professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, said it is unlikely major numbers of LGBTQ+ voters would choose Trump in November due to his evolving stance since the 2016 national election."With Trump moving further to the right since 2016 on every major issue of concern to the LGBTQ community, it's hard to imagine him gaining support in that community," Montgomery told Newsweek.Montgomery said.
