PRRI data from 2017 shows that 46% of Americans, including 75% of Democrats and 10% of Republicans, thought that President Donald Trump’s policies posed a threat to the country. Following Trump’s use of American military in response to protests in Washington, D.C., former defense secretary James Mattis has spoken out. “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people,” Mattis writes. Mattis’ comments come during a period that has seen a decline in favorability among some of Trump’s base. A PRRI survey conducted before and after May 28 shows support among Republicans declined from 88% before May 28, to 79% after May 28. President Trump responded that he “felt great” about firing Mattis and that Mattis rarely “brought home the bacon,” with respect to his job duties.

In 2018, PRRI found that more than two-thirds (68%) of white Americans and a majority (54%) of Hispanic Americans agreed that Confederate monuments are symbols of Southern pride, compared to only 29% of black Americans. On Tuesday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced that a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee would be taken down in the state’s capital. The announcement comes while widespread protests occur across the country due to injustice and police brutality against black Americans. Additional PRRI data shows that 80% of black Americans view the Confederate flag as a symbol of racism.

PRRI’s most recent data shows that 62% of white evangelical Protestants hold favorable views of President Donald Trump. In recent days, evangelicals appear divided over President Trump’s handling of recent protests. Evangelical leader Pat Robertson thinks Trump should have reached out to the protest movement instead of answering it with “law and order.” “You just don’t do that. Mr. President. It isn’t cool,” Robertson said. In Houston, Pastor Joel Osteen marched with protestors in support of the movement. “We need to stand against injustice and stand with our black brothers and sisters,” Osteen said. In The Guardian, Matthew Teague writes of the spectrum of evangelical reactions to President Trump’s Monday night photo-op outside St. John’s Church. “Evangelicals are not monolithic: some saw the gesture as cynical, a ploy by a president whose decisions, both private and public, do not align with biblical principles.”

Actor John Boyega, best known for his appearances as Finn in the Star Wars canon, has made himself a visible presence at recent protests in England. In a recent piece for Polygon, Robert Daniels writes of Boyega embodying something that the series has missed. “While Star Wars as conceived by Lucas had a message about resistance through conflict, the Black resistance of the 1970s, in which activists called for liberation through armed self-defense, wasn’t present,” Daniels writes.