Almost one-third of Republican primary voters would support bombing the fictional kingdom of Agrabah, according to a report released by Public Policy Polling on Friday.
More than 530 Republican primary voters were polled this week on their support for Republican candidates and foreign policy issues including banning Muslims from entering the US, Japanese internment camps from the second world war and bombing Agrabah, the kingdom from Disney’s animated classic, Aladdin.
In its poll, Public Policy Polling asked the 532 Republicans: “Would you support or oppose bombing Agrabah?” While 57 per cent of responders said they were not sure, 30 per cent said they supported bombing it. Only 13 per cent opposed it
30% of Republican primary voters nationally say they support bombing Agrabah. Agrabah is the country from Aladdin. #NotTheOnion
— PublicPolicyPolling (@ppppolls) December 18, 2015Public Policy Polling also polled Democratic primary voters: only 19 per cent of them said they would support bombing Agrabah, while 36 per cent said they would oppose it.
Republican primary voters polled by the PPP aren’t just worried about Agrabah. Of those polled, 36 per cent believe that thousands of Arabs in New Jersey cheered when the World Trade Center collapsed on 9/11.
About 54 per cent of those polled support banning Muslims from entering the United States and 46 per cent support the creation of a national database of Muslims in the United States.
New Jersey officials and residents have repeatedly denied the claims of the post-9/11 celebrations, which were resurfaced last month by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
“I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down,” Mr Trump said at a November campaign rally in Alabama.
Mr Trump continues to stand by his remarks. He had also called for a “total and complete shutdown” of the country’s borders to Muslims in the wake of the San Bernardino terrorist attack.
According to the PPP, “[DONALD] Trump is at 45 per cent with Republicans who want to bomb Aladdin and only 22 per cent with ones who don’t want to bomb Aladdin.”
Mr Trump has been criticised by members of his own party for his anti-Muslim remarks.
“Banning all Muslims will make it harder for us to do exactly what we need to do, which is destroy Isis,” Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said on Tuesday during the fifth Republican debate. “We need to engage with the Arab world to make this happen.”
But Mr Trump’s remarks and proposals, however, have seemed to connect with some GOP voters.
One in four of those polled by the PPP said that Islam should be illegal in the US and that they support the US policy of Japanese internment during the second world war.
Guardian