US partisan divide on govt shutdown over border wall more sharply: Poll

With the partial shutdown of the federal government entering its 26th day, Americans' view on whether to expand the US-Mexico border wall has been more sharply divided along partisan lines, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Wednesday.

Seventy-nine per cent Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say the shutdown is a "very serious problem", while only 35 per cent Republicans and Republican leaners say the same, the poll showed.

"Republican support for the wall is at record high, while Democratic support has reached a new low," the Pew said in a report, reports Xinhua news agency.

Overall opinion on the wall is little changed from last year. The new poll found a majority of Americans (58 percent) continue to oppose substantially expanding the border wall, while 40 percent favour the proposal.

Only 29 per cent of Americans think it would be "unacceptable" to reopen the government without substantially expanding physical barriers on the southern border with Mexico. Meanwhile, 58 per cent of Americans still oppose the border wall altogether.

However, 88 per cent of opponents of expanding the border wall say it would not be acceptable to pass a bill that includes Trump's request for wall funding, if that is the only way to end the shutdown. Among the smaller group of wall supporters, 72 per cent say a bill to end the shutdown would be unacceptable if it does not include Trump's funding request.

The survey, conducted January 9-14 among 1,505 adults, found that none of Washington's political leaders receives positive approval ratings for their handling of the government shutdown. Just 43 per cent approve the way Democratic congressional leaders are handling the government shutdown, while 36 per cent each approve how Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders are handling the shutdown.

--IANS

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