After spending a year and a half in office, Donald Trump has definitely made his mark on America. He's arguably been the subject of more sex-based scandals, held responsible for more diplomatic blunders, and certainly experienced more Twitter faux pas than any other serving president in US history, and yet he still has the support of millions of voters.

However, the former businessman might not be able to count on his fanbase for much longer, as it turns out that almost half of the American electorate believe that their current president is a racist.

According to a Quinnipiac University poll released this week, 49 per cent of people think Trump is racist, 47 believe he is not, and the remainder are undecided. Moreover, 44 per cent are convinced that Trump's "racist beliefs" have motivated his tough immigration policy, 60 per cent agreed that separating families at the border is a violation of human rights, and 22 per cent of Republicans believe that the president's actions in office have emboldened racist behaviour in others.

Let's take a quick look at the evidence that might have urged people to come to this conclusion, shall we?

From the beginning of his campaign for the presidency, he kept pushing the narrative that Mexican immigrants were criminals. He showed disdain for Muslim Americans and implemented a ban on immigrants from Muslim countries. He said that 15,000 Haitian immigrants "all have AIDS" and that 40,000 Nigerian immigrants would not want to "go back to their huts" after experiencing the USA. He said that the states did not want more immigrants from "s**thole countries".

But it wasn't just immigrants he showed hatred for.

Famously, Trump tried to argue that Barack Obama was not American. He also has a habit of implying that black and Hispanic people are more violent, and commented in one debate against Hillary Clinton: "Our inner cities, African Americans, Hispanics are living in hell because it’s so dangerous. You walk down the street, you get shot."

And lest we forget all the white nationalists that support Trump. He famously described the white supremacists at the Charlottesville Rally last year as "very fine people", and accepted endorsements from known KKK members.

Long before he even announced he was running for president, though, Trump was rumoured to exhibit racist behaviour. Former employees of his claimed that he treated black staff differently to white workers, and is reported to have once said of a black accountant, "I think that the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault, because laziness is a trait in blacks."

While the broader extent of Trump's racism may have only become visible due to his highly publicised treatment of immigrants (especially children) at the southern border, the truth is that he has always made these viewpoints known to anyone who was paying close enough attention.

It calls into question, then, what exactly the other 51 per cent are seeing when they watch Donald Trump do all these things?

After spending a year and a half in office, Donald Trump has definitely made his mark on America. He's arguably been the subject of more sex-based scandals, held responsible for more diplomatic blunders, and certainly experienced more Twitter faux pas than any other serving president in US history, and yet he still has the support of millions of voters.

However, the former businessman might not be able to count on his fanbase for much longer, as it turns out that almost half of the American electorate believe that their current president is a racist.

According to a Quinnipiac University poll released this week, 49 per cent of people think Trump is racist, 47 believe he is not, and the remainder are undecided. Moreover, 44 per cent are convinced that Trump's "racist beliefs" have motivated his tough immigration policy, 60 per cent agreed that separating families at the border is a violation of human rights, and 22 per cent of Republicans believe that the president's actions in office have emboldened racist behaviour in others.

Let's take a quick look at the evidence that might have urged people to come to this conclusion, shall we?

From the beginning of his campaign for the presidency, he kept pushing the narrative that Mexican immigrants were criminals. He showed disdain for Muslim Americans and implemented a ban on immigrants from Muslim countries. He said that 15,000 Haitian immigrants "all have AIDS" and that 40,000 Nigerian immigrants would not want to "go back to their huts" after experiencing the USA. He said that the states did not want more immigrants from "s**thole countries".

But it wasn't just immigrants he showed hatred for.

Famously, Trump tried to argue that Barack Obama was not American. He also has a habit of implying that black and Hispanic people are more violent, and commented in one debate against Hillary Clinton: "Our inner cities, African Americans, Hispanics are living in hell because it’s so dangerous. You walk down the street, you get shot."

And lest we forget all the white nationalists that support Trump. He famously described the white supremacists at the Charlottesville Rally last year as "very fine people", and accepted endorsements from known KKK members.

Long before he even announced he was running for president, though, Trump was rumoured to exhibit racist behaviour. Former employees of his claimed that he treated black staff differently to white workers, and is reported to have once said of a black accountant, "I think that the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault, because laziness is a trait in blacks."

While the broader extent of Trump's racism may have only become visible due to his highly publicised treatment of immigrants (especially children) at the southern border, the truth is that he has always made these viewpoints known to anyone who was paying close enough attention.

It calls into question, then, what exactly the other 51 per cent are seeing when they watch Donald Trump do all these things?