A new poll found that key swing state voters dubbed “deciders” trust Donald Trump more than President Joe Biden to defend democracy.
The poll conducted by The Washington Post and the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University was released Wednesday and showed most swing state voters believe “threats to the democracy in the U.S.” is an extremely important issue going into November’s presidential election.
Of the more than 3,500 individuals surveyed, 2,255 were identified as “deciders,” meaning they are the voters most likely to have an impact on the election. Voters were classified as deciders if they are between 18-25, only voted in one of the last two elections, switched parties between the last two elections, or if they remain undecided between the candidates. Voters were polled from Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Between all of these swing state voters, 61% called threats to democracy an extremely important issue. Among voters identified as “deciders,” 56% agreed. Those numbers go up among voters either committed to
Among all swing state voters surveyed, 44% said the former president would better handle threats to democracy while 33% said Biden would do the better job. Another 7% said they would do an “equal” job while 16% said “neither” could be trusted on the topic.
Among “deciders,” 38% backed Trump more to defend democracy while 29% backed Biden. Among this group, 23% dismissed back candidates and 10% said they’d do an “equal” job.
More “deciders” prefer Trump defending democracy than Biden, but a majority also think the former president is less likely to accept the presidential election results if he loses. According to the Post poll, 73% believe Trump will not accept the results if he loses, and only three in 10 say the same about Biden. Among “deciders,” 47% also believe Trump would try to rule as a “dictator,” and only 15% said the same about the current president.
The swing state poll was conducted from April 15 to May 30 with registered voters contacted by mail, phone, and text. It carries an overall margin of error of 2%.