美国国家公共电台 NPR Poll: Nearly 4 In 5 Voters Concerned Incivility Will Lead To Violence

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

President Trump¹ continues his blitz on the campaign trail today with a rally in Columbia, Mo. Last night, he was stumping² in Florida, where he took a moment, as he often does, to single out journalists.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And when we talk about division, this is a big part of the division right there.

GREENE: The president was motioning to the reporters in the back of the room. Now, 29 percent of people do believe that the media is most to blame for the negative tone and lack of civility in Washington. But 40 percent, a higher number, blame President Trump. This is all according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll that is out this morning. And let's talk it through with NPR's lead political editor Domenico Montanaro. Hi, Domenico.

DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE³: Hey there, David.

GREENE: So lots of numbers to talk about, and one I really wanted to dig into. It seems like people are not just worried about a lack of civility, according to this poll, but they're concerned that that lack of civility could lead to more violence. What exactly are we seeing here?

MONTANARO: Yeah. And it's an overwhelming number and across party lines. About 4 in 5 voters say that they're concerned that that lack of civility in Washington will lead to violence. About 4 in 10 believe that the way the president conducts himself is largely to blame for incidents like the recent improvised⁴ explosive devices that were sent to prominent Democrats⁶ and critics of the president. About 1/5 though, we should say, blame the media and the way it reports on the news.

And neither the president nor the media come across very well. About half of Americans say Trump has handled the aftermath of these incidents irresponsibly, and about half also say the media has acted irresponsibly in reporting those incidents. Of course, there's a political split in that. About 4 in 5 Democrats say Trump has acted irresponsibly, while about 3/4 quarters of Republicans say the media has.

GREENE: Well, Domenico, help me understand this, as well. The survey is telling us that people feel civility has gotten much worse since President Trump took office, but 40 percent - only 40 percent - think that he is responsible for that. Can you make sense of that at all?

MONTANARO: Well, I mean, about 3/4 say the overall tone and level of civility in Washington have gotten worse since Trump has become president, and that's up from earlier in his presidency⁷ and much higher than when President Obama was in office, by the way. And Obama, we know, was certainly a lightning rod for the right. But these numbers that you're looking at, I mean, 3/4 of Americans saying it's gotten worse, tells you Americans really perceive this time under Trump to be something different.

GREENE: So I mean, this is an important moment for any presidency, a midterm election, even though the president is not on the ballot⁸. What kind of support does he have right now, if we use this as a snapshot?

MONTANARO: Well, it hasn't changed very much, you know? About 41 percent approve of the job that he's doing, which is kind of where it's been for the entirety of his presidency. It's historically low and could hurt Republicans in the House in particular. And, you know, on the question of who people prefer to control Congress, Democrats are leading. Among registered voters, Democrats lead by six points.

And for the first time, we had our pollsters do a, quote, "likely voter model" to see the kinds of people who might turn out. And with that, it's nine points that Democrats lead. That's a range that our pollsters say is a real, you know, warning sign for Republicans that likely means a flip⁹ of control of the House, provided everyone who says they're going to go out and vote actually do so.

GREENE: But you still see Republican candidates, even though the president's numbers aren't that great, wanting to have him come campaign and tie themselves to him.

MONTANARO: In some places, yes. I mean, he puts a lot of Republicans in a difficult position. You know, Missouri, yes. Florida, maybe not so much. Certainly in Georgia, for example. The Republican candidate there, Brian Kemp, for governor, is skipping a final debate with Democrat⁵ Stacey Abrams to campaign with President Trump this weekend. You know, Kemp is making that gamble that being with the president is more important in this traditionally conservative state.

GREENE: All right. NPR lead political editor Domenico Montanaro. Domenico, thanks.

MONTANARO: You're welcome.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 stumping   

僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的现在分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说

参考例句：

• She's tired of stumping up for school fees, books and uniform. 她讨厌为学费、课本和校服掏腰包。
• But Democrats and Republicans are still dumping stumping for the young. 但是民主党和共和党依然向年轻人发表演说以争取他们的支持。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

8 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

9 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。