Black Lives Matter protesters
Black Lives Matter protestersREUTERS

A majority of Americans support the ideas promoted by the left-wing activist movement Black Lives Matter, according to a new poll released Sunday.

The poll, which was conducted by YouGov and published by CBS News, found that 60% of Americans agree with the ideas expressed by Black Lives Matter, including 33% who say they “strongly agree” with the ideas of BLM, and 27% who “somewhat agree”.

Forty-percent of Americans disagree, including 25% who “strongly disagree” with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Broken down by race, a narrow majority of whites (53%) say they back the ideas of BLM, compared to 47% who disagree, while 84% of blacks endorse the ideas of BLM.

Republicans were far less likely to agree with the ideas promoted by BLM, with just 28% saying they strongly or somewhat agree with the movement’s ideas, compared to 87% of Democrats and 58% of independents.

A smaller majority of 55% say American law enforcement needs “major changes”, compared to 36% who say minor changes are needed, and just nine percent who say no changes at all are needed.

Fifty-three percent of Americans say they support protests against the police, compared to 34% who oppose the protests.

Respondents gave President Donald Trump better marks than Congress in terms of responses to calls for police reform, with 42% saying they were satisfied with his response, compared to just 28% who said they were satisfied with the way Congress has responded.

But few respondents gave Trump high marks for his response to the nationwide protests, with a plurality saying he was not tough enough. A total of 55% of Republicans, 22% of Democrats, and 40% of independents say Trump was not tough enough, compared to 38% of Republicans, 10% of Democrats, and 23% of independents who said he was ‘about right’ in terms of the toughness of his response. Six percent of Republicans, 68% of Democrats, and 37% of independents said Trump was ‘too tough’.

Only a minority of Americans (45%) say Confederate statues in public places should be removed, compared to 55% who say they should remain in place. Democrats strongly back removing the statues by a 74 to 26% margin, while 86% of Republicans oppose removing such statues.

Just 41% of American say other statues of historical figures should be considered for removal based on their past, compared to 59% who said they should remain in place regardless of their past.