Poll: Majority of voters back Trump deploying National Guard to L.A.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—New polling reveals that more than half of U.S. voters support President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles.

RMG Research polling conducted among 1,000 registered voters on Monday found that 52% of respondents either “strongly” or “somewhat” approve of Trump’s decision to send National Guard troops to L.A. in the face of fiery street protests.

While 42% of American voters don’t approve of the president’s action, 7% are “not sure” what they think about the use of the troops in the California city.

Riots broke out in L.A. on Friday in opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, prompting Trump to mobilize an initial 2,000 National Guard troops and later another 2,000. The violent protests continued Monday night leading to the arrest of more than 100 rioters.

The primary role of the National Guard troops in this case is the protection of federal property and federal employees.

When voters were asked if they “approve or disapprove of the efforts by immigration officials … to find and arrest illegal immigrants in Los Angeles,” 57% of participants said they either strongly approve or somewhat approve, and 35% disapprove, while 9% are not sure.

Following ICE operations in L.A., Mayor Karen Bass on Friday expressed public opposition to Trump’s deportation efforts.

“We will not stand for this,” Bass said in a statement.

While 47% of those polled approved of the L.A. mayor’s response, 43% disapproved and 10% are not sure.

Polling data suggests Americans have strong and varied views on the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to arrest and deport illegal aliens, but public opinion on the issue is trending in a positive direction for the president, according to the data.

“The early numbers coming out of the L.A. riots suggest things aren’t playing out the way Democrats might have hoped,” Scott Rasmussen, president of RMG Research, said in a press release Tuesday announcing the latest polling data.

“A couple of weeks ago, 40% of voters said the president’s deportation efforts had gone too far. In a survey conducted [Monday], that number is down 3 points to 37%,” Rasmussen said.

The latest polling findings should not “be a surprise in a nation where, for decades, 80% of voters have called illegal immigration bad for America,” Rasmussen said. “But, for reasons that are hard to explain, Democrats not named John Fetterman manage to be surprised by this fact on a regular basis.”

Sen. Fetterman, D-Pa., on Monday publicly condemned the riots.

The pollster suggests that most Democrats’ position on illegal immigration may be “because they don’t acknowledge the difference between legal and illegal immigration.”

“For now,” Rasmussen says “the situation is that Los Angeles is a political gift for President Trump. The danger remains, however, that he will overplay his hand and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]