Shutdown poll is way off base
President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Regarding Jonah Goldberg’s Monday column “GOP got a free pass on government shutdown”: Mr. Goldberg cites a Fox News poll that found 51 percent of respondents blamed Trump, 34 percent blamed Democrats, 9 percent blamed everyone involved and “only” 3 percent blamed the Republicans. The Republicans got a free pass! No, not at all.
A majority of the public blames the president and the Republicans for the shutdown because they collaborated. But the poll made them choose between the two. Had it asked whether or not the Democrats, Republicans or both were to blame, the results would have been Democrats 34 percent, Republicans 54 percent and 9 percent both parties.
