Voters in Kent County are closely divided on President Donald Trump and his policies. That’s according to a new Brown University poll, out Wednesday.

The poll shows 43 percent of respondents in Kent County approve of Trump’s job performance. But the same percentage disapproves of the president.

Half of respondents support a temporary ban on people from certain Middle Eastern countries entering the U.S. Jim Morone, director of Brown’s Taubman Center, notes that 46 percent of respondents back creating a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.

“You really might say that Kent County is really looking at policy issues through an America-First prism,” said Taubman.

The outside firm hired by Brown got poll results from Kent County and five other states. The poll shows that President Trump is maintaining his core support. The poll also indicates challenges for congressional Republicans ahead of mid-term elections next year.

Morone says one commonality is that President Trump’s approval rating is higher than for congressional Republicans in each of those locations.

“What we’re finding: Trump not growing support anywhere, but not diminishing support either – hanging on to his core supporters in very red places. And congressional Republicans facing really significant headwinds,” said Morone.

The poll also reveals some confusion among voters. In Kent County, 49 percent oppose repealing the Affordable Care Act. Yet just 41 percent oppose repealing Obamacare, the informal name for the Affordable Care Act.

The poll is based on interviews with 555 respondents in Kent County. It has a margin of error of about four percentage points.

One of the state’s top political reporters, Ian Donnis joined The Public’s Radio in 2009. Ian has reported on Rhode Island politics since 1999, arriving in the state just two weeks before the FBI...