US opposes Donald Trump’s comments

Washington: A majority of Americans strongly oppose leading presidential aspirant Donald Trump’s plan to ban Muslims from entering the US and about 60 per cent have a favourable opinion of Muslims, according to a new poll.

Trump’s proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the US is opposed by a solid majority of Americans, while almost four in 10 Republican primary voters support the idea, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll has found.

Those views within the party have helped Trump weather yet another political storm, as the poll found his favorability rating undiminished among Republican primary voters over the last six weeks.

Some 57 per cent of everyone surveyed objected to the proposed Muslim ban with most of them saying they objected strongly while 25 per cent favoured it.

Among Republican primary voters, 39 per cent opposed and 38 per cent supported the idea, which has been the subject of heated debate since Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims’ entry into the country.

The poll also found that nearly 60 per cent of Americans have a favourable view of Muslims.