Veterans Much Prefer Trump to Clinton
The news on Donald Trump and veterans hasn’t been very flattering this week, but recent Morning Consult surveys show that members of the military and their families largely back the presumptive GOP nominee in the race for the White House.
Almost half of veterans and voters who belong to veteran households (47 percent) picked Donald Trump as their presidential nominee in surveys taken from May 13 through May 24. Of the 1,668 military voters polled, only 38 percent support former Secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee. Fourteen percent of military voters remain undecided.
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| Name | Approve | Don’t Know | Disapprove | Net Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Biden | 44 | 7 | 48 | -4 |
| Jair Bolsonaro | 37 | 7 | 56 | -19 |
| Mario Draghi | 59 | 6 | 35 | 24 |
| Boris Johnson | 37 | 6 | 57 | -20 |
| Fumio Kishida | 46 | 17 | 37 | 9 |
| Emmanuel Macron | 36 | 7 | 56 | -20 |
| Angela Merkel | 54 | 6 | 40 | 14 |
| Narendra Modi | 72 | 6 | 22 | 50 |
| Moon Jae-in | 38 | 6 | 56 | -18 |
| Scott Morrison | 46 | 7 | 47 | 0 |
| Andrés Manuel López Obrador | 66 | 7 | 26 | 40 |
| Pedro Sánchez | 36 | 7 | 56 | -20 |
| Justin Trudeau | 43 | 7 | 51 | -8 |
While Clinton and Trump are both unpopular among all registered voters, about half of veterans and members of veteran households view the bombastic businessman more favorably than Clinton. Trump’s net favorability sits at plus-3 percentage points, while Clinton’s languishes at minus-20. Almost 46 percent of respondents in military households have a “very unfavorable” view of Clinton, while 35 percent feel similarly about for Trump.
While supporters of Clinton’s Democratic opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), have pointed to his favorable general-election polling numbers against Trump, veterans and members of veteran households also back Trump against the liberal firebrand; 47 percent of military respondents back Trump, versus 43 percent for Sanders.
[table “140” not found /]And when it comes to the general direction of the United States, the sentiment among vets and members of veteran households reflects that of the overall electorate. Almost seven out of 10 military respondents (68 percent) think the country is on the wrong track. Morning Consult’s most recent poll of the general population found 69 percent of respondents think the country is on the wrong track.
As for the current commander-in-chief, vets and members of vet households view President Obama similarly to the rest of American voters; 47 percent of them approve of the job he’s doing, versus 50 percent who don’t. In the general population, 49 percent of voters approve of Obama, and 48 percent disapprove.
The Morning Consult survey polled 1,668 voters from March 13-24 for a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percent. See the toplines and crosstabs.
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