Politics

One-fifth of Americans believe immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of the country,’ new UMass poll shows

The poll also showed a majority of respondents wished both Biden and Trump hadn't run for president in 2024.

Photographer: Ian Maule/Bloomberg

By Emily Spatz

2 minutes to read

A new UMass Amherst poll found that nearly one-fifth of respondents — and one-third of Republicans — agree with the claim that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of the country.”

Support for the statement, originally made by former President Donald Trump, is even higher among the political right and Trump’s supporters, the University of Massachusetts Amherst poll showed. About 31% of Republicans and 35% of Trump supporters said they agreed with the statement.

The assertion was made by Trump at a rally in December. The former president and 2024 presidential nominee has since faced criticism about the statement, which some said echoed Adolf Hitler’s words about Jewish blood “poisoning” the Aryan German race.

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The national poll, which was published last week, surveyed 1,064 respondents about their views on issues including race, immigration, and the upcoming presidential election. 

According to the survey, nearly 40% of Americans believe that increased immigration “threatens American culture and identity” and 43% believe that “political elites are welcoming immigrants to replace the current population with obedient voters who will vote for them,” said Jesse Rhodes, professor of political science at UMass Amherst, in a statement.

Respondents viewed immigrants more negatively than African Americans or Jewish Americans, two groups that have historically faced “hostility” from other Americans.

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“It appears that xenophobia is a form of discrimination that is still socially acceptable, at least in some circles,” Rhodes said. 

The survey also revealed uncertainty and negativity amongst Americans about the upcoming election, a plurality of which said they support removing Trump from ballots due to the “Insurrection Clause” of the 14th Amendment.

Over half of the respondents and 29% of Republicans indicated it would have been better if Trump did not run for president in 2024, and 57% of respondents and 37% of Democrats say it would have been better if Biden did not run. 

“With memories of a historically negative campaign, months of former President Trump refusing to concede the election, and the violent insurrection of Jan. 6 still fresh in the memories of Americans, it is not surprising that only 29% of Americans view this matchup as a good thing while a plurality of citizens believe this potential contest to be bad for the nation,” said Tatishe Nteta, provost professor of political science at UMass Amherst and director of the poll.  

Some of the race-based questions assessed relate to what’s known as the “great replacement’ theory,” which states that welcoming immigration policies are part of a “plot” to undermine or replace the political power and culture of white people. 

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Despite the poll’s findings about the prevalence of Americans’ agreement with the theory, 53% of respondents embraced the belief that racial and ethnic diversity is a source of national strength, the survey found.

The majority of Americans also support “sweeping” immigration reforms, and many recognized the privilege experienced by white Americans. 

“However, in more evidence of how the partisan divide may also reflect the nation’s divide on race, Democrats and Republicans express diametrically opposed views on the racial progress of the nation with larger swaths of Republicans expressing skepticism regarding the existence of white privilege, less likely to see problems as systemic, and exhibiting less anger concerning the existence of racism when compared to Democrats,” said Nteta.

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