Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Poll: 'Merry Christmas' offensive to few; Trump voters more concerned about 'war on Christmas'

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to bring back "Merry Christmas" and end the backlash of people being pushed to use alternative greetings or risk offending someone, Christopher Ingraham reports for The Washington Post. But a survey by Public Policy Polling shows that people are far less offended by "Merry Christmas" than some might think.

The survey of 1,224 registered voters—48 percent voted for Hillary Clinton, 46 percent for Trump—found that only five percent of Clinton voters say are offended by "Merry Christmas," and 2 percent of Trump's were. Overall, 94 percent of Clinton voters and 97 percent of Trump voters said they were not offended by the phrase. Only 3 percent of all respondents said they were offended by it.
Differences were greater when voters were asked if they were offended by "Happy holidays;" 17 percent of Trump voters said they were, but only 7 percent of Clinton voters did. Ninety percent of Clinton voters answered that they "are not personally offended" by the phrase, compared to 76 percent of Trump voters.

Trump supporters were more adamant when it came to choosing between "Merry Christmas" and "Happy holidays." Of that group, 69 percent preferred "Merry Christmas," 4 percent "Happy holidays" and 26 percent said it doesn't make a difference. Of Clinton voters, 23 percent preferred "Merry Christmas," 14 percent "Happy holidays" and 63 percent said it didn't make a difference which one was used.

When asked if they think there is a "war on Christmas," 60 percent of Trump voters said there is, and only 9 percent who voted for Clinton said so. The poll reports says, "In fact 24 percent of Trump voters say that the 'war on Christmas' concerns them more than a potential war with China would."

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