A 32-question survey, launched as part of Donald Trump’s 2018 re-election campaign, asks supporters whether they fear the spread of Sharia law. The survey, “Listening to America: 2018”, which is available on the Trump campaigns website, asks general questions about participants’ opinions on the Trump administration and the economy before addressing more topical issues such as school shootings and tax cuts[1].
These topical issues include those “that relate to some of the more hardline anti-Immigration rhetoric pushed by Trump during his campaign”, with the survey asking, “Are you concerned by the potential spread of Sharia Law?”[2]
Previously, Trump has proposed the implementation of a test for immigrants entering the U.S. asking whether they believe “Sharia law supplants American law”, stating that anyone who answers ‘yes’ will not be given an immigrant visa. He has framed allegiance to Sharia as incompatible with embracing U.S. society and way of life[3].
Another question in the survey perhaps also pushes Trump’s notoriously right-wing, anti-immigration agenda, asking whether English should be declared the official language of the United States[4], alongside several other questions regarding legal and illegal immigration and the travel ban[5].
There has currently been little media analysis of the poll, however on Twitter, those who support Trump and those who do not are calling on others to take the poll to assert their views on the presidency and current affairs.
[1] Mallin, 2018.
[2] Mallin, 2018.
[3] Mallin, 2018.
[4] Mallin, 2018.
[5] Trump Pence Make America Great Again!, (no date); Smith, 2018.
Sources
Mallin, A. (2018) ‘Trump campaign polls supporters on spread of Sharia law, making English official language of US’. [online] 3 March. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-campaign-polls-supporters-spread-sharia-law-making/story?id=53487661. [Accessed 5 March 2018].
Smith, D. (2018) ‘Are you concerned by sharia law?’: Trump canvasses supporters for 2020’. [online] 3 March. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/03/trump-campaign-survey-sharia-law-russia-2020. [Accessed 5 March 2018].
Trump Pence Make America Great Again! (no date) ‘Listening to America 2018’. [online] https://action.donaldjtrump.com/listening-to-america-2018-survey/. [Accessed 5 March 2018].
