More Americans rate feeling warmly toward Donald Trump today than they did after the 2016 or 2020 election, despite the president-elect’s many scandals, including four indictments and two impeachments.
After a contentious presidential election cycle, approximately 43 percent of people said they feel “very warm” or “warm” toward the president-elect in a new poll conducted by Pew Research Center.
That is seven percentage points higher than after the 2016 election when Trump unexpectedly defeated Hillary Clinton. It’s also nine percentage points higher than after the 2020 presidential election, when Trump refused to concede to President Joe Biden and spread false statements about mass voter fraud in a bid to overturn the election results.
Despite Trump facing federal criminal charges for his alleged attempts to overturn that election and accusations that he incited the January 6 attack on the Capitol, many Americans have seemingly forgiven the president-elect.
The poll found that even Democrat or Democrat-leaning voters have slightly warmer feelings about Trump. In November, nine percent of those voters surveyed said they felt “very warm” or “warm” toward the president-elect. In 2020, that was five percent, and in 2016 it was eight percent.
Trump has also boosted his image among Republican or Republican-leaning voters, with 78 percent reporting feeling warmly toward him.
That, in part, is thanks to higher “good behavior” ratings during this election cycle compared to the 2020 election.
Pew Research’s findings largely reflect the outcome of the election which saw much of the country shift right. Trump won both the electorate and popular vote in addition to all seven swing states.
Despite warmer feelings toward Trump, the majority of Americans do not believe that he can successfully unite the country. Just 41 percent are confident in the president-elect’s ability to do so.
“Republicans are now far more likely to be hopeful and proud, while the share of Democrats who feel hopeful has declined sharply,” the Pew report says.
Meanwhile, 42 percent of Americans believe Trump is honest, and 37 percent describe him as “even-tempered.” Only 34 percent believe he is a good role model.
Yet, Americans’ confidence in Trump’s ability to steer the economy in the right direction, crack down on immigration and approach foreign policy at a time of heightened tensions is what ultimately what won voters over.
