Rasmussen Poll: Voters Reject Defund Police Demand

Voters strongly reject the latest demand from a progressive politician to defund the police — with a majority saying Democrats have become hostile to law enforcement, a new Rasmussen Reports survey showed.

In the poll, voters disagree by a 2-to-1 margin with the demand by Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., that "defunding the police needs to happen."

According to the survey, 63% disagree with Bush’s statement, including 51% who strongly disagree, while 31% agree with her view on defunding the police, including 12% who strongly agree.

The survey also found 57% of voters agree, and 31% disagree, with North Carolina’s Gaston County Sheriff Alan Cloninger, who in announcing his retirement and decision to leave the Democratic Party, told CBS affiliate WBTV that "some of the new Democrats in Washington attack and degrade all law enforcement officers who risk their lives every day to protect the people."

Among that majority consensus, 40% strongly agreed and 21% strongly disagreed.

The survey’s margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

In other findings, the poll found:

• 71% rate the performance of their local police as excellent or good, while 25% rate their local police as doing a fair or poor job.
• 68% don’t think most police officers are racist, 18% think they are.
• 46% of Democrats agree with Bush’s statement that "we need to defund the police," as do 23% of Republicans and 20% of independent voters.
• 44% of Democrats agree with Cloninger’s statement that some "new Democrats in Washington attack and degrade all law enforcement officers," as do 72% of Republicans and 57% independents.
• 54% of both Black and white voters agree with Cloninger’s statement.
• 76% of Republicans, 60% of Democrats, and 69% of unaffiliated voters say most police are not racist, as do 73% of whites, 50% of Black voters, and 63% of other minorities.
• 86% of Republicans, 63% of Democrats, and 70% of unaffiliated voters rate their local police excellent or good, as do 76% of whites, 57% of Black voters and 73% of other minorities.

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