By Harry Enten<\/p>\n
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President Donald Trump is taking his case to the American people over why they should back him in the partial government shutdown.<\/p>\n
His primetime address on Tuesday will be about the “Humanitarian and National Security crisis on our Southern Border,” he tweeted. But Trump is facing an uphill climb: polls show a majority of Americans blame him and Republicans for the shutdowns, and the majority have also consistently been opposed to his idea of a border wall with Mexico.<\/p>\n
\nThe average of polls taken since the shutdown began indicate that Americans are blaming Republicans for the shutdown. In the average, about 50% think Trump is most to blame, 35% think congressional Democrats are most to blame and about 5% think congressional Republicans are most to blame.<\/p>\n
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When you combine all the numbers together, about 55% blame Republicans (either Trump or congressional Republicans) and about just 35% blame Democrats for the shutdown.<\/p>\n
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\nThe fact that Trump is losing the shutdown fight in the court of public opinion shouldn’t be a surprise. He came into the negotiations in a rather weak position.<\/p>\n
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Trump’s biggest issue is that he wants funding of a US-Mexico border wall. While that may be popular with his base, Americans have been consistently opposed to a border wall. Before the shutdown, they opposed it by about a 10-to-20 point margin. There’s no sign that’s changed in the latest polling.<\/p>\n
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