Many Americans say assassination attempt has not changed Trump: Survey
Many Americans in a new poll say the failed assassination attempt on former President Trump at a campaign stop earlier this month has not changed him, according to Yahoo News.
The Yahoo News/YouGov poll, released Wednesday, found that 44 percent of respondents said the shooting has not changed Trump at all. Just 28 percent of Americans believe the attempt on Trump's life has changed him “for the better” while 7 percent said the shooting changed the former president “for the worse,” per Yahoo's reporting.
The numbers come just over two weeks after a gunman opened fire during a Trump’s rally outside Pittsburg, grazing the former president's ear with a bullet. Two rally attendees were also injured in the incident and the shooter — identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks — and another rallygoer were killed.
Trump appeared to push back Wednesday on some suggestions that he was going to be “nice” after the attempted assassination. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, both Republicans and Democrats urged both sides to tone down the political rhetoric.
Trump signaled during his rally in North Carolina Wednesday that he would not hold back the attacks on Vice President Harris, who President Biden endorsed earlier this week after his recent withdrawal from the race.
“I was supposed to be nice. They say something happened to me when I got shot. I became nice,” Trump told the crowd. “And when you’re dealing with these people, they’re very dangerous people, you can’t be too nice."
He added, "So if you don’t mind, I’m not going to be nice. Is that OK?”
Yahoo News noted that the poll was conducted mostly before Biden announced Sunday that he would not seek reelection. The survey also found that Harris, who is emerging as the likely Democratic nominee, and Trump are polling neck-and-neck among the respondents.
Each pulled in 46 percent of support from respondents, according to the new poll. Roughly 4 percent said they were not sure, and 3 percent said they would not vote when given Harris and Trump as the only two options.
The poll was conducted online among 1,723 U.S. adults from July 19-22. It has a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.