84% of Trump voters say US discriminates against white people

Supporters of Joe Biden prioritise social justice concerns, but for Trump voters, immigration is top issue, survey says

Donald Trump protesters gather in front of the US Capitol Building on 6 January, 2021 (Getty Images)

A large number of Donald Trump supporters worry about the fate of Christianity and discrimination against white Americans, according to a new survey.

At least 84 per cent of the surveyed Trump supporters “worry that discrimination against whites will increase significantly in the next few years”, according to a poll released by Project Home Fire in partnership with the University of Virginia’s Centre for Politics.

The poll was conducted online from 22 July to 4 August. The participants included 1,001 Trump voters and 1,011 Joe Biden voters, and the poll captured their responses to over 300 questions on social, political, and psychological topics.

“American racial and ethnic politics have reached their breaking point,” the report stated. “On the one side, Joe Biden voters see systemic racism in America as a serious problem. Donald Trump voters are on the other side of Biden voters on each of these issues, and by large margins... they worry that discrimination against whites will increase significantly in the next few years.”

At least 61 per cent of Trump’s supporters strongly believed that “Christianity is under attack in America today,” while 84 per cent somewhat agreed.

President Biden’s supporters, however, largely disagreed with these notions. Only 38 per cent of Biden supporters somewhat agreed that anti-white discrimination was on the rise, while 47 per cent agreed that “Christianity is under attack”.

According to the survey, “Biden voters prioritise social justice concerns”, but for Trump voters, “immigration emerges as one of the top issues”.

At least 91 per cent of Democrats, or Biden supporters, agreed that system racism was a serious problem in America, compared to 45 per cent of Republicans. Similarly, when asked if Hispanic and Asian immigrants face discrimination in the US, only 49 per cent of Republicans agreed, while as many as 87 per cent of Democrats concurred.

“Trump voters fear they will suffer personally, socially, culturally, and economically from the effects of immigration,” the survey noted.

Most Trump supporters also did not care to protect the rights of LGBT+ persons. At least 80 per cent of Democrats expressed their concern about queer rights compared to only 39 per cent of Republicans. Similar trends were seen in their responses to the rights of religious and other sexual minorities as well.