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Trump’s Cancelled Military Parade Was Never a Crowd Pleaser, Poll Shows

Majority of Americans applauded decision to cancel procession through D.C.

Military participants prepare to march in the Memorial Day parade in Washington on Monday, May 25, 2015. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Military participants prepare to march in the Memorial Day parade in Washington on Monday, May 25, 2015. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Americans didn’t shed a lot of tears over President Trump’s abrupt decision to cancel his plans for a military parade, according to a poll released Wednesday. 

The majority of respondents, 68 percent, approved of the cancellation, an Economist/YouGov poll found. And 75 percent said they were either “not very disappointed,” or “not disappointed at all.”

Trump announced last week that the procession would be postponed until at least next year after news outlets reported the estimated cost had surged to $92 million. He had wanted to put on a show to match the Bastille Day celebration that dazzled him in Paris last year. 

But the idea never caught on with potential audiences here, according to the poll conducted Aug. 19-21. Forty-seven percent of respondents were either somewhat or strongly opposed to the idea of a large military parade in Washington, D.C., compared to 30 percent who either somewhat or strongly favored it, the poll showed.

Republicans, however, were more amenable. They favored the idea, 55 percent to 29 percent opposed, compared to 15 percent in favor and 68 percent opposed among Democrats.

The web-based poll sampled 1,500 American adults from YouGov’s opt-in Internet panel using random sample matching. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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