Trump attacks Republicans who don't support him as 'stupid people' as president plummets in polls

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Donald Trump said on Monday that Republican voters who do not support him are "stupid," and cited his campaign's internal polling to predict he will win a second term.

With states freezing their re-opening efforts amid new outbreaks of coronavirus and a sharp uptick in hospitalisations, the president spent a large part of his Monday morning tweeting about protesters objecting to racial inequality and calls to remove the names of former President Woodrow Wilson and actor John Wayne from a university policy school and an airport.

He also bragged about his campaign's own polling data, saying surveys conducted by professional polling outfits and news outlets are a "JOKE".

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The president again, without citing any specific poll, claimed to have a 95 per cent approval rating within the Republican Party. And he provided his assessment of the 5 per cent who say they don't.

"I would imagine the 5% are the RINOS' and stupid people who don't want to see great Judges & Supreme Court Justice's, a new & powerful Military, Choice for Vets, 2A Protection, big RegulationCuts, Life, & much more!" he said.

Multiple polls suggest Mr Trump is very popular with Republican voters, but not quite 95 per cent popular. For instance, the Gallup organisation recently found his approval among GOP voters is at 85 per cent – the lowest since he dipped to the same mark in September 2018.

In April, before the president's response to protests over racial inequities joined the coronavirus outbreak in giving voters of all stripes new doubts about him, Gallup put his approval among Republicans at 93 per cent.

The president used another post to predict he will win again in November, even amid a list of dismal poll numbers that show him trailing former Vice President Joe Biden by as much as 14 points. A RealClearPolitics-tabulated average of several surveys puts the presumptive Democratic nominee up by 9.2 percentage points (49.5 to 40.3).

"Sorry to inform the Do Nothing Democrats, but I am getting VERY GOOD internal Polling Numbers. Just like 2016, the @nytimes Polls are Fake!" Mr Trump tweeted. "The @FoxNews Polls are a JOKE! Do you think they will apologize to me & their subscribers AGAIN when I WIN? People want LAW, ORDER & SAFETY!"

Polls four years ago showed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ahead nationally, giving the president and top campaign aides some hope he is running closer to Mr Biden than surveys suggest.

The president also trails the former VP in several key swing states he won last time, though the swings to the Democrat in those states often are in the double-digits.

For his part, Mr Biden has urged his supporters and Democrats to "ignore the polls".