Obama’s Cuba opening more popular in Florida than Trump’s new measures

President Trump visited Miami last week and spoke before a dying breed of Cuban exiles at the Manuel Artime Theater in Little Havana. He committed to much of the same old nonsense that has been uttered time and again over the past almost 60 years, while promising to take on the Cuban army (economically speaking) and making life better for ordinary Cubans.

It appears that Floridians don’t believe him. A poll conducted right after the Trump speech shows that Barack Obama’s opening with the island nation is more popular than Trump’s hardline Cold War rhetoric.

“Donald Trump’s new policy toward Cuba is less popular (13 points less) in Florida than the normalization of relations initiated in 2014 by his predecessor in the White House, Barack Obama, but it also has diminished the current president’s approval rating, according to a survey published on Tuesday.” This is the first line in an article that appeared in Miami’s Spanish language El Nuevo Herald’s website.

“Thirty-four percent of Floridians approve of the tightening of the policy toward Cuba announced last week in Miami by Trump, compared with 47% who say they support Obama’s thaw with the Island,” according to the poll conducted by Florida Atlantic University (FAU).

Contrary to what President Trump said during his speech in Miami, the poll shows that Floridians are pessimistic about his approach. They feel the new policies will not improve the life of Cubans, with 36% saying it will make things worse while only 21% saying it will make things better.

[For all the results of the FAU poll, click here.]