Media

Do Americans Trust the November Election of Donald Trump?

Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons

Americans’ trust level in four basic types of institutions — government, business, media and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) — did not change much as a result of the November 9 elections. On November 8 the trust level was 45%; on November 10 the trust level was 44%.

Trust in business and NGOs rose two points after election day, and trust in media fell five points, while trust in government fell three points. And as we might have guessed, trust levels in all four basic institutions diverged along political lines.

The data were collected and reported by communications marketing firm Edelman as a supplement to the firm’s annual global trust survey. Edelman surveyed 788 U.S. voters weighted to be nationally representative based on age, gender and region, with oversamples of Trump voters (360) and Clinton voters (367). The supplementary data were collected between November 28 and December 11.

Among Trump voters, trust in three types of institutions rose — business, up 10 points; NGOs, up five points; and government, up one point — while trust in media fell six points.

Among Clinton voters, trust in all four types of institutions fell: business, down five points; NGOs, down two points; media, down six points; and government, down 11 points.

Among all Americans in the survey, 57% believe the “system” is failing while only 10% believe it is working. A third were uncertain. The survey asked if the system was biased in favor of elites, whether hard work was rewarded, whether respondents had confidence in current leaders and the strength of respondents’ desire for change.

More than three-quarters (76%) of respondents said they were concerned about widespread corruption; nearly as many (74%) said they were concerned about globalization; and two-thirds said they were concerned about erosion in social values. Almost as many (66%) said they were concerned regarding immigration, and 61% were concerned about the pace of change and innovation.

Along voting lines, 67% of Trump voters were fearful that the system is failing, compared with 45% of Clinton voters. Trump voters were twice as likely to fear immigration and globalization.

The demographic data show that Trump and Clinton voters were equally affluent and equally educated: 31% of households with at least $100,000 of income voted for Trump compared with 30% for Clinton; 55% of Trump voters were college-educated compared with 56% of Clinton voters.

Where the demographics differed were in gender, race and age. Trump voters were more likely to be white, male and more than 50 years old.

Among the generations, millennials who voted went for Clinton, but more than a third said they did not vote. Among boomers, 35% voted for Trump, compared with 26% who voted for Clinton and 21% who did not vote.

Americans were also strongly divided on the issue of the elections fairness. Among Trump voters, 96% believed the election was a fair and accurate reflection of the people, while on 34% of Clinton voters agree with that.

Another interesting point: 28% of Americans who did not vote regret not doing so and 3% regret voting for the candidate they did vote for. Among millennials, more than 40% of non-voters said they regretted their decision.

One final data point: 66% of Trump voters believe that American voters are more trustworthy than any institution compared with 46% of Clinton voters, and 77% of Trump voters trust the new administration to “do what is right.” Only 8% of Clinton voters have confidence in the Trump administration to do what is right.

The Edelman survey also asked several questions related to various policy choices and the results are available in a slide show at the firm’s website.

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