Poll: Majority of Americans say it doesn’t matter if stores greet them with ‘merry Christmas’

More than half of Americans say it “doesn’t matter” whether stores and business greet them with “merry Christmas,” according to new data from Pew Research Center.

Pew reported that while 32 percent of respondents said they would prefer to be greeted with “merry Christmas,” 52 percent said it doesn’t matter, and 15 percent said they would prefer a nonreligious greeting like “happy holidays” or “season’s greetings.”

President Trump has decried what conservatives call the “war on Christmas,” saying that political correctness has ruined holiday celebrations. He has repeatedly said throughout the campaign and his presidency that under him, Americans will be “saying ‘merry Christmas’ again.”

{mosads}At a Trump campaign rally in Pensacola, Fla., earlier this month, his supporters carried “merry Christmas” signs and the stage was adorned with Christmas decorations. Fake snow fell on the crowd at the close of the rally.

The new Pew data, published Tuesday, showed a growing gap between those who prefer “merry Christmas” as a greeting and those who say it doesn’t matter. Fewer people are concerned with the greeting now.

In 2012, 45 percent of respondents said it doesn’t matter, and 43 percent said they prefer “merry Christmas.” There has also been a 3-point increase since 2012 in the share of respondents who prefer “happy holidays” or “season’s greetings.”

According to Pew, Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to prefer “merry Christmas” as a greeting. Fifty-four percent of Republicans and 19 percent of Democrats said they prefer “merry Christmas,” while 61 percent of Democrats and 38 percent of Republicans said it doesn’t matter.

More than twice as many Democrats as Republicans said that religious symbols should not be allowed on government property.