Trump Voters Are Staying Silent Again This Year

Trump voters appear to be hiding their vote again this election cycle.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 17% of Likely U.S. Voters who Strongly Approve of the job President Trump is doing say they are less likely to let others know how they intend to vote in the upcoming election. By comparison, just half as many (8%) of those who Strongly Disapprove of the president’s performance say the same.

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of those who Strongly Approve are More Likely to tell others whom they plan to vote for compared to previous presidential campaigns. But that compares to 66% of voters who Strongly Disapprove. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

A similar but narrower gap is evident between the two parties. Sixteen percent (16%) of Republicans are less likely to tell others how they intend to vote, compared to 12% of Democrats. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of GOP voters and 60% of Democrats are more likely to tell this year.

At this time in the 2016 election cycle with Trump already being regularly bashed by the media, his supporters were similarly less forthcoming about how they intended to vote, and pollsters, with the exception of Rasmussen Reports and a couple others, completely missed Trump's surprise victory.

Again this cycle, the quietest voters are those not affiliated with either major political party. Twenty-one percent (21%) say they are less likely to let others know how they intend to vote; 45% are more likely to tell.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted September 3 and 6, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Following the two national party conventions, Democratic nominee Joe Biden has a four-point lead over Trump in Rasmussen Reports’ latest weekly White House Watch survey. These findings will be updated at noon today.

Among all likely voters, 16% say they are less likely this year to tell others how they intend to vote, while 55% are more likely to do so. Twenty-eight percent (28%) feel about the same.

Blacks and other minority voters are less likely than whites this cycle to tell others how they plan to vote.

The older the voter, the more likely are to tell others whom they plan to vote for.

Liberals are more likely to talk up their vote than moderates and conservatives are.

Rasmussen Reports polling in recent days shows Trump trailing Biden in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Ohio but tied with him in Pennsylvania. 

Most voters say the upcoming presidential election is about Trump and rate Biden’s agenda of secondary importance. Enthusiasm about the election continues to grow following the two major parties’ conventions, especially among Republicans.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it's free) or follow us on Facebook. Let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.