09 December 2015

Most Americans dislike Islam

A majority say that they view Islam unfavorably, and even Democrats are almost twice as likely to view Islam negatively than positively

One week ago the United States saw the deadliest terrorist attack it has seen since 9/11, after 14 people were killed in San Bernadino by Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik.

In the wake of the attack Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took his most aggressively anti-Muslim stance so far by calling for Muslims to be barred from entry into the United States. Though the United States has millions of Muslims, anti-Muslim sentiment has become increasingly common in public discourse.

YouGov/HuffPost's latest research shows that most Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Islam. 58% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Islam, and just over a third (35%) say that they have a 'very unfavorable' opinion of the religion.

Only 17% of Americans view it positively. Democrats (27%) are the most likely to have a favorable opinion of Islam, but even they tend to say that they view Islam negatively. Among independents (58%) and Republicans (75%) most people have a negative view of Islam. [YouGov] Read more