WASHINGTON -- More than half of Americans, including large majorities of blacks and Hispanics, think U.S. President Donald Trump is a racist. More than half think his policies have made things worse for Hispanics and Muslims, and nearly half say they鈥檝e made things worse for African Americans.
According to , 57 percent of Americans think Trump鈥檚 policies have been bad for Muslims, and 56 percent think they鈥檝e been bad for Hispanics. Forty-seven percent, including three-quarters of blacks, think they鈥檝e been bad for African Americans.
Fifty-seven percent of all adults, including more than 8 in 10 blacks, three-quarters of Hispanics and nearly half of whites, said they think Trump is racist. Eighty-five percent of Democrats consider Trump racist, but just 21 percent of Republicans agree.
The results show a stark divide on racial issues gripping the country during the presidency of Trump, who has made divisive comments after a white nationalist rally, called African nations 鈥渟hitholes,鈥� and promised to build a wall along the Mexican border to prevent immigrants from entering the country illegally.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the poll鈥檚 findings. When asked earlier this year what he thinks about people who think he is racist, Trump replied, 鈥淣o, no. I am not a racist.鈥� He also told reporters: 鈥淚 am the least racist person you have ever interviewed. That I can tell you.鈥�
The poll, designed to highlight the views of African Americans as Black History Month draws to a close, shows deep pessimism among black people about the state of politics and the country. It finds that more than 9 in 10 of blacks disapprove of how Trump is handling his job as president, 9 in 10 think the country is headed in the wrong direction, and three-quarters think that direction has worsened in the last year.
By comparison, 45 percent of whites approve of the job Trump is doing, though only 35 percent think the direction of the country is improving.
About half of all Americans, including two-thirds of African Americans, think that race relations in the United States have worsened over the past year, the poll shows.
鈥淓verybody appears to have gotten angry and they are looking at each other differently,鈥� said Terri Jordan, 58, a black resident of Washington, D.C. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 just a bad thing. We can鈥檛 progress that way.鈥�
Jordan said she strongly believed Trump was 鈥渞acist鈥� based on his previous comments about Mexican immigrants and his slow response to neo-Nazis rallying in Charlottesville, Virginia last year.
In the 鈥淣ational African American History Month鈥� proclamation he issued earlier this month, Trump praised the 鈥渞esolve, resilience, and courage鈥� that blacks have shown in the face of 鈥渆gregious discrimination and bigotry.鈥� 鈥砊hey have, nevertheless, always been determined to contribute their earnest efforts to America鈥檚 greatness,鈥� Trump said.
Just over half of all Americans surveyed in the poll -- 51 percent, including 79 percent of blacks and 44 percent of whites -- think African Americans continue to face disadvantages to getting ahead in the U.S. That鈥檚 compared with 22 percent who think blacks actually have advantages and 26 percent who think race makes no difference in getting ahead. Majorities also think Muslims (60 percent), immigrants (59 percent), LGBT people (52 percent) and Hispanics (51 percent) face disadvantages in American society, while close to half (45 percent) think women face similar hurdles. About 6 in 10 think whites and men have advantages over other groups.
Ralph Loud, 68, a black resident in Houston, Texas, said he didn鈥檛 see the conditions of African-Americans changing as long as Trump remained in office.
鈥淗e makes my blood boil because of the things he does and the things he says,鈥� said Loud. 鈥淲e ain鈥檛 going to get better as a country. We need new leadership.鈥�
Michael Jefferies, an American Studies professor at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, said he wasn鈥檛 surprised by the survey鈥檚 findings.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 really much question what鈥檚 going on here,鈥� Jefferies said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to look far back to see how inequality has been sustained and exacerbated in this country.鈥�
Jefferies said African-Americans are suspicious primarily because Trump has few domestic policy milestones so far in his young presidency. His administration has stated goals of cutting housing programs and gutting the Affordable Health Care Act, both of which work to address inequality.
Jefferies said Trump鈥檚 slow reaction to the unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia over Confederate monuments and his comments about immigrants and people of color also probably played a role in how African-Americans see him.
鈥淗e鈥檚 also setting a new standard in what is said in that office,鈥� Jefferies said.
There are vast partisan divides on the impact of Trump鈥檚 policies. For example, 73 percent of Democrats but just 14 percent of Republicans think they鈥檝e been harmful to African Americans, while 78 percent of Democrats and 25 percent of Republicans think they鈥檝e been harmful to Hispanics.
