New CNN Poll: Over Half of Americans Say They Don’t Trust Any Political News Source — Including CNN

(Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

A new poll conducted by CNN and SSRS found that more than half of Americans say they don’t have any source they trust for political news — not even CNN.

Recent polls have shown Americans have deeply negative views on issues like the economy and inflation. They’re also tying a lot of that negativity to Republicans, with President Donald Trump in the White House and a GOP majority in both the House and Senate, and giving Democrats a dose of hope about November.

Americans are also extremely cynical about the media. A Gallup poll last October showed that trust in media had sunk to its lowest level ever since the pollster began tracking the issue in the 1970s. Seventy percent of Americans said they had “not very much” confidence or “none at all” in mass media like newspapers, TV, and radio to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly.”

The latest CNN survey shows that pessimism has not abated. The poll was conducted between May 7 and 31, 2026 among 2,480 Americans 18 years or older, online or by phone, and with a margin of error of +/- 2.7 percentage points.

When asked, “Which best describes your approach to following what happens in American politics?”, 33% said they frequently seek out the latest political news, 32% follow major developments in politics but don’t seek them out, 26% only pay as much attention to politics as necessary, and 9% don’t follow politics at all. This showed a slight uptick in interest in political news from a previous poll taken April 30 to May 4, in which 26% said they frequently seek out the latest political news, 36% follow major developments in politics but don’t seek them out, 29% only pay as much attention to politics as necessary, and 9% don’t follow politics at all.

The pollsters tracked an extensive list of answers to a question about trust in media. The full text of the question asked:

There are a lot of different ways to find out what’s happening in politics. Some people hear about it from journalists and the news, from celebrities or online influencers, from academic or political experts, from business leaders, or people in their own community and social circle. For you, personally, is there a specific person or source you trust to tell you about what’s happening in politics?

Over half — 55% — replied, “No, there isn’t anyone who I trust to tell me about what’s happening in politics.”

For the 45% who did say they had a person or source they trusted for political news, 25% said outlets or news sources, including 5% for Fox News, 2% for CNN, 2% for NPR and public radio, 2% for local news outlets, and 1% each for MS NOW, The New York Times, BBC News, PBS, ABC News, NBC News, and Newsmax. A longer list of media sources received 0.5% or less and were represented in the polling report by an asterisk.

Nine percent said their most trusted source was a specific individual, although no person got more than 1%.

Only 1% said they trust elected officials the most, with all possible responses falling below the 0.5% threshold.

Thirteen percent said other sources, including 7% who said friends, family, or colleagues. Several sources in this category got 1%, including YouTube, the internet and social media in general, TikTok, X/Twitter, Facebook/Instagram, and podcasts in general.

Read the full poll results here, including questions about culture war issues.

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