Trump Says Country Wants Border Wall, But That's Not What Polls Say

And opponents can't call the White House switchboard to let the president know because it's not working due to the government shutdown.

President Donald Trump insisted again Thursday that there’s “so much support” his border wall. But polls contradict him.

“The people of our country want it,” Trump declared at a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room Thursday to plead for the wall (see the video above at 2:20).

“I have never had so much support as I have in the last week over my stance for border security ... or, frankly, the wall or the barrier. I have never had anything like it in terms of calls coming in, in terms of people writing in and tweeting. I’ve never had this much support,” he added.

Trump was apparently referring to personal calls he has received. Neither the White House switchboard nor the call-in phone line to leave recorded comments is functioning because of the government shutdown. “We apologize, but due to the lapse in federal funding, we are unable to take your call,” a recorded message on the switchboard states.

But no poll has found that a majority of Americans support the wall or funding for the wall, or see it as a priority.

A Quinnipiac poll of 1,147 voters reached on landlines or cell phones from Dec. 12-17 found that 54 percent of respondents opposed the wall and 43 percent supported it. A Harvard CAPS/Harris online survey of 1,407 registered voters conducted Dec. 24-26 found that 56 percent of those surveyed did not support a wall, while 44 percent did.

Just 35 percent of those surveyed supported including money for the wall in a federal spending bill, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of 2,440 adults conducted online Dec. 21-25.

More than two-thirds of Americans don’t think the wall should be a priority, according to a poll of 1,075 adults by NPR, PBS News Hour and Marist. That poll was conducted Nov. 28-Dec. 4 using live telephone interviews to reach both landlines and cell phones.

Regardless of Americans’ opinions about the wall, they’re not happy with how the government shutdown is being handled by either Congress or Trump. Just 18 percent of Americans polled say they approve of how Congress has handled the shutdown, with 60 percent disapproving, a new HuffPost/YouGov survey finds. As for Trump, 38 percent approve of how he’s handling it, and 49 percent disapprove, according to the poll.

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