Most Americans say Trump is dividing country: Poll

A majority of Americans think US President Donald Trump is doing more to divide the country and believe hate crimes have dramatically increased since his election, a new poll has found.

A total of 62 percent of registered US voters say Trump is fueling divisions, while 31 percent say he is doing more to unite the country, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released Thursday.

Sixty percent of American voters disapprove of Trump's response to the recent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where one counter-protester was killed and 19 others were injured.

The survey also found that 59 percent of voters said Trump's decisions and behavior have encouraged racist and white supremacist groups.

Some 55 percent of American voters say there is too much prejudice in the nation today. Prejudice against minority groups is a "very serious" problem, 50 percent of voters say.

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Since Trump's election, "the level of hatred and prejudice in the US has increased," 65 percent of voters say.

Trump has been widely criticized for his response to the Charlottesville rally after he said "both sides" were to blame for the violence.

UN human rights experts have urged the US government to "unequivocally and unconditionally" condemn racist speech and hate crimes, warning that a failure to do so could fuel further violent clashes by white supremacist groups.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), issued an "early warning and urgent action" statement on Wednesday, which is reserved for serious situations, saying that “there should be no place in the world for racist white supremacist ideas or any similar ideologies that reject the core human rights principles of human dignity and equality.”

The warning specifically noted the August 12 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where deadly clashes broke out between white supremacists and counter-protesters

The UN experts asked US politicians and public officials to undertake concrete measures “to address the root causes of the proliferation of such racist manifestations.”

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