by Will Axford
If anyone needs proof that the presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton truly is dividing the country, they should look to Texas.
According to poll results from Public Policy Polling released Tuesday, three out of five Texans said they would support seceding from America if Hillary Clinton becomes president.
PPP is known for asking offbeat and sometimes humorous questions. In December, the firm discovered 30 percent – about one out of three – Republican primary voters supported bombing Agrabah, the fictional Arabian city from Aladdin. The survey didn’t ask if people knew Agrabah doesn’t actually exist.
PPP found Texans overall have an unfavorable opinion of both candidates (59 percent for Clinton and 53 percent for Trump).
When asked if fictional independents Deez Nuts and Harambe (a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo who was put down after grabbing a child), Trump came out on top at 47 percent. Clinton got 38 percent while Deez Nuts got 3 percent and Harambe got 2 percent.
As for President Barack Obama, 54 percent of Texans polled said they disapprove of his job performance. In 2012, 51 percent of the Texans polled said they voted for Mitt Romney, compared to the 38 percent who voted for Obama (11 percent said they don’t remember who they voted for).
Other interesting results from the survey include 30 percent of Texans identifying as moderate, compared to 13 percent identifying as somewhat liberal and 29 percent as somewhat conservative. A small number said they were very liberal (9 percent) or very conservative (19 percent).
While most Texans identify as Republican (41 percent), 24 percent say they are independent while the remaining 35 percent identify as Democrat.