30% of US Republican voters in Iowa want to criminalise Islam: poll

Survery shows only 49% of Republicans think Islam should be legal in the US with 21% not sure

Thirty per cent of Republican voters in the US state of Iowa think Islam should be illegal, a recent poll has revealed.

The survey conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP) showed only 49% of Republicans think Islam should be legal in the United States with 30% saying it shouldn’t be and 21% not sure.

Read: Trump considers getting 'rid of' Muslims when president

US Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s voters were almost evenly split with 38% thinking Islam should be legal and 36% saying that it should not. Trump recently said he would consider getting ‘rid of’ Muslims when he became president.

Another Republican leader, Ben Carson, who is also running for president, has said Muslims should be disqualified from the presidency. Although Carson had come under fire for his remarks, his campaign manager boasted, “While the left wing is huffing and puffing over it, Republican primary voters are with us at least 80-20. People in Iowa particularly, are like, ‘Yeah! We’re not going to vote for a Muslim either.’”

Read: Republican candidate Carson says Muslims unfit to be US president

Further, the same poll found that 69 per cent of Iowa Republicans believe President Obama is “waging a war on Christianity.” This remark was made by Trump and according to the poll, it is endorsed by over two-thirds of Iowa Republicans.

The survey reveals that even though many people in America expressed outrage at the anti-Muslim comments made by Trump and Carson, there are also many, at least in the US state of Iowa, who actively support their views.

Read: I love the Muslims: Donald Trump

The PPP poll also found that among the Republican presidential candidates, Donald Trump lead with 24 per cent, Ben Carson with 17 per cent, and Carly Fiorina with 13 per cent.

Moreover, the survey revealed there were “decent levels of support,” for Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio who were tied for fourth with 8 per cent each, while Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee were tied for sixth place with 6 per cent each.

This article originally appeared on MSNBC