Donald Trump is making the border wall less popular

By Michael Tesler August 16 at 7:00 AM

When Donald Trump announced his campaign for president, he famously proclaimed: “I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall.” It’s become his signature issue — so much so that his supporters have spontaneously chanted “Build the Wall” at his rallies and during his acceptance speech at last month’s Republican National Convention.

Donald Trump’s hawkish stance on immigration helped him in the primaries. Even in 2011, sizable majorities of Republicans supported building a fence along the Mexican border. And a number of studies have found that Trump performed best in the primaries among the most anti-immigrant Republicans.

But now, in the middle of the general election campaign, Trump is easily the most unpopular major party nominee in modern times. And his historic unpopularity may have also eroded support for the border wall.

The graph shows the trend in support for the border wall over the past year.

[image]https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=1484[/image]

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