[772][773] In national polling, about half of respondents said that Trump is racist; a greater proportion believed that he has emboldened racists.[774][775] Several studies and surveys found that racist attitudes fueled Trump's political ascent and were more important than economic factors in determining the allegiance of Trump voters.[776][777] Racist and Islamophobic attitudes are a strong indicator of support for Trump.[778]
In 1975, he settled a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged housing discrimination against black renters.[49] He has also been accused of racism for insisting a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, even after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. As of 2019, he maintained this position.[779]
In 2011, when he was reportedly considering a presidential run, he became the leading proponent of the racist "birther" conspiracy theory alleging that Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, was not born in the United States.[780][781] In April, he claimed credit for pressuring the White House to publish the "long-form" birth certificate, which he considered fraudulent, and later said this made him "very popular".