Is Trump-Bashing Backfiring on the Democrats?

Eighteen months after Election Day, many Democrats and their allies in Hollywood and the media continue to attack President Trump in an unprecedented fashion. But few voters think it will pay off for Trump’s opponents in the next election.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 43% of Likely U.S. Voters think there is too much Trump-bashing going on in the popular culture today. Thirty percent (30%) say there isn’t enough, while 21% feel the level of Trump-bashing is about right. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

But only 23% say they are less likely to vote for a candidate who supports the president because of the current level of Trump-bashing. Thirty-six percent (36%) are more likely to vote for a pro-Trump candidate. Slightly more (38%) say the ongoing attacks on the president will have no impact on their vote.

Even among Democrats, just 36% say the current Trump-bashing makes them less likely to vote for a candidate who supports the president. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Republicans are more likely to vote for such a candidate. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, a plurality (48%) says the Trump-bashing will have no impact on their vote, but 25% are more likely to vote for a pro-Trump candidate.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on May 14-15, 2018 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.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of the 2016 election also appears to be driving Republicans to vote this year for candidates endorsed by the president. 

Just 15% of voters believe focusing on the president’s possible impeachment is a better campaign strategy for Democratic congressional candidates than focusing on policy areas where they disagree with Trump.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Republicans think there is too much Trump-bashing going on, but only 27% of Democrats and 35% of unaffiliated voters agree.

The older the voter, the more likely they are to say there is too much Trump-bashing in the popular culture. Older voters are also more likely to vote for a pro-Trump candidate as a result of it.

Women are more critical of Trump-bashing than men are and less likely to be influenced by it.

Sixty-one percent (61%) of voters who feel there is too much Trump-bashing are more likely to vote for a pro-Trump candidate. Among voters who say there isn’t enough bashing of the president, only 39% say they are less likely to vote for a candidate who supports Trump. Sixty-two percent (62%) of those who think the current level of criticism is about right say it will have no impact on their vote.

Trump's overall job approval in the Rasmussen Reports Daily Presidential Tracking Poll generally has been running in the high 40s to just over 50% in surveys since his State of the Union address in late January.

But 52% of voters believe when most reporters write or talk about the president, they are trying to block him from passing his agenda. By comparison, 48% said most reporters were trying to help Barack Obama pass his agenda in the second year of his presidency.

Most Americans (56%) also continue to believe that most Hollywood celebrities are more liberal than they are. 

Yet even among Republicans, while most plan to vote for a member of Congress who supports Trump’s agenda, they have reservations when it comes to the president joining candidates on the campaign trail.

Democrats still have the advantage in this week’s Rasmussen Reports Generic Congressional Ballot.

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

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