Most of the country thinks that a senior official should have attended the Paris rally in solidarity with the French people
Leaders of the world gathered in Paris last Sunday to show their solidarity with the French people after the string of terror attacks in an around Paris last week which killed 18 people. The leaders of Germany, Britain and Israel, among others, participated in the march along with over 1.5 million Frenchmen in Paris alone. The absence of a high level American dignitary did prompt criticism, leading the White House to apologize for the failure to send a major figure to represent the United States in Paris.
YouGov's latest research shows that 69% of Americans think that the government should have sent a senior official to represent the United States at the Paris rally. Asked who should have gone, 30% said President Obama, while 20% said that the American Ambassador to France (who did attend) should have represented America. 16% picked John Kerry and 11% chose Joe Biden.
The White House said that, in addition to scheduling issues, security concerns prompted the decision not to send either the President of Vice President to the rally. Half the public, however, say that the rally would have been safe enough for them to attend alongside other major world leaders, while 24% say that it wouldn't have been. Democrats (37%) are much more likely than independents (21%) or Republicans (14%) to say that it would not have been safe enough for Obama or Biden to attend.
Full poll results can be found here.
