Trump and Cruz Have Sparked Shock and Controversy With Muslim Proposals — but Here's What Polls Just Revealed

Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have unveiled some proposals and proclamations in recent months that have created a slew of controversy, specifically when it comes to issues pertaining to immigration and the Muslim community.

But new polls show that there is a fair amount — and even majority support — for some of these proposals among the American populace.

Consider that 50 percent of voters embraced Trump's ban on Muslims traveling to the U.S., with 38 percent opposing the plan, according to a recent poll conducted by Morning Consult.

More specifically, the proposal also received support from 49 percent of Independents, 71 percent of Republicans and 34 percent of Democrats; the poll was conducted following the Brussels attacks last week.

A separate poll from YouGov and the Huffington Post this week also found that the ban received the support of 51 percent of Americans, with 40 percent disagreeing — proportions that mirror what was found by Morning Consult.

Morning Consult

Morning Consult also found that a solid portion of respondents — 45 percent — agreed with Trump's contention that the nation "needs to stop tying its hands and start using enhanced interrogation techniques, such as water-boarding, against suspected terrorists in order to defeat ISIS."

Just 34 percent said that the U.S. does not need these techniques to defeat the Islamic State, with an additional 21 percent remaining uncertain.

The survey also measured opinions surrounding Cruz's proposal calling for increased patrolling of Muslim neighborhoods, finding that it, too, enjoyed support among the American public.

While 49 percent of respondents said that they supported law enforcement patrolling Muslims neighborhoods, 36 percent opposed.

Morning Consult

A separate poll conducted by YouGov and the Huffington Post found that 45 percent of the public agreed and 40 percent disagreed with the following statement: "We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized."

Diving deeper, the idea gained the support of 29 percent of Democrats, 43 percent of independents and 71 percent of Republicans.

In the end, though, the public said that it valued cooperation with Muslims (63 percent) over intense surveillance (24 percent) as the better alternative.

YouGov/Huffington Post

Cruz's call for patrols came in a recent statement that followed the Brussels attack.

“We need to immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant alQaida or ISIS presence,” Cruz said. “We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.”

(H/T: Daily Mail)

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