During the presidential debate Tuesday, former President Donald Trump continued to make unfounded claims that he won the 2020 election. According to new poll results, his voter base likely believes him.
These AP-NORC/USAFacts poll results released Tuesday showed that 67% of Republicans trust the GOP candidate’s campaign – more than the 51% who trust government certifications – to provide accurate information on the 2024 election outcome. On the other hand, 87% of Democrats trust government certifications, more than the 82% who trust the campaign of their candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Overall, Americans are skeptical about information regarding the upcoming election amid a polarized political environment and the growth of social media and artificial intelligence, the poll found. Nearly 40% of people said it is difficult to know if what political candidates are saying is true.
Republicans may trust Trump as a source of information, the poll indicates that the general public does not. More than half (57%) think his messages are rarely, if ever, based on factual information. While more people trust Harris, 45% still think her campaign rarely, if ever, bases messages on factual information.
“The survey results highlight the distrust Americans hold toward election information across a range of sources,” said Poppy MacDonald, President of USAFacts. “And while few have trouble finding information, many struggle to know if the information is true or not.”
According to the Associated Press, Trump’s comments in the debate showed his “unwillingness to admit the extent to which his falsehoods about his election loss emboldened the mob that rushed the Capitol,” during the deadly Jan. 6 riot. Trump has been indicted for his connection to the event.
Following the debate, Trump told Fox & Friends that he thought the debate was “rigged” because the ABC News moderators repeatedly fact-checked him. At one point, moderator David Muir had to fact check Trump’s reference to a false claim about immigrants eating pets in Ohio.
CNN polling of debate watchers found that 63% believed that Harris won the debate, compared to 37% who believed Trump won. A vast majority (96%) of Harris’ supporters said she won, compared to 69% of Trump’s supporters. Before the debate, polling of all voters showed they were split on who would win.