The White House’s view that it’s perfectly fine to protest outside Supreme Court justices’ homes is not shared by a significant majority of Democrats, according to a new Trafalgar poll.
“Do you believe that publishing the home addresses of the five U.S. Supreme Court Justices and calling for protests at their private homes is an acceptable way to protest the High Court’s upcoming decision on Roe v. Wade?” the survey asked.
While 76 percent of likely voters said no and 16 percent of respondents said yes, when looking specifically at Democrat voters, 67 said it’s unacceptable to protest in this way. Twenty-one percent of Democrats believe it’s OK to protest at the justices’ private homes.
The Biden administration has refused to condemn the protests targeting conservative justices, though White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that the president believes judges must "be able to do their jobs without concern for their personal safety."
Doocy: "Activists posted a map with the home addresses of the Supreme Court justices. Is that kind of thing this president wants?"
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 5, 2022
PSAKI: "I don't have an official U.S. government position on where people protest." pic.twitter.com/kpqF1FUGVF
Psaki on "protests that have been peaceful to date":
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 10, 2022
"We certainly continue to encourage that outside of judges' homes." pic.twitter.com/h3t8Jsw1Ss
Protests in front of a person's home are intended to force change by intimidation; it's not an invite for beer.
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) May 10, 2022
The White House's @JoeBiden and @jrpsaki back it, while the letter of the law says this: pic.twitter.com/ZU5SpVTNjq
Again, this position is not in line with what the American electorate believes.
"Do you believe the Biden Administration's refusal to publicly condemn abortion activists publishing home addresses of U.S. Supreme Court Justices and calling for protests at their private homes will encourage or discourage protests to become potentially unlawful or violent?" the survey asked.
Fifty-two percent of respondents said they believe it would encourage such behavior.
As my colleague over at HotAir noted, while Trafalgar is right-leaning, "they’re also usually very accurate. And this poll offers margins so wide and so non-partisan that it’s impossible to conclude anything but that Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer have positioned themselves in a box canyon over the reaction to the Supreme Court leak in Dobbs."