Pew Research Survey Reveals What Biden And Trump Supporters Agree On

3 months ago

Andrew Daniller, a Pew Research Center Research Associate, joined "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss a new massive Pew survey showing where Americans agree

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Transcript

00:00 - Speaking broadly across all of these areas

00:02 in which there is a very large divide

00:04 between Trump and Biden supporters,

00:07 what is the likelihood that that divide narrows

00:10 in coming years?

00:12 Is it possible that Americans will become less divided

00:16 or reach something closer to a consensus?

00:18 - So asking to predict the future is something

00:23 that we try to steer away from at Pew Research Center.

00:27 I don't wanna speculate about what might be

00:29 coming down the road.

00:30 I will say, of course it's possible,

00:32 but I do think that what our report shows

00:35 is that there are some very fundamental divides

00:37 on a lot of these issues.

00:38 When you look at something like gun rights, for example,

00:41 where for years we've tracked a very strong partisan divide

00:46 and where today, something in the neighborhood

00:49 of 80% of Biden supporters say that gun ownership

00:52 makes Americans less safe,

00:53 whereas something like 80% of Trump supporters say

00:57 it makes them more safe, it increases safety.

00:59 I don't see that divide necessarily disappearing overnight.

01:04 It's something where there seems to be a major issue

01:08 that cuts to the core of political values

01:10 and that people seem to have

01:11 genuinely differing beliefs about.

01:14 - So stark divides on guns, on abortion, on racial attitudes,

01:20 on the legacy of slavery, on immigration.

01:22 Is there any area in which Americans agree?

01:27 - Yeah, so there actually was one set of items

01:29 we asked about in this survey,

01:31 and I won't say it was the only area of agreement,

01:34 but one that really stood out to me.

01:36 We asked people about policing and crime

01:39 and specifically what some of the priorities

01:41 for law enforcement should be.

01:43 And that's a case where we saw a great amount of agreement.

01:46 So for example, should it be a priority for law enforcement

01:49 to ensure that communities are safe?

01:52 Yes, absolutely, most Americans agree with that.

01:55 But even when it gets to a little bit

01:56 more controversial issues,

01:57 such as whether it's important to treat suspects fairly,

02:02 regardless of racial or ethnic background,

02:04 there's a lot of agreement that that should be a priority

02:07 for American law enforcement.

02:09 Or whether it's important to maintain respect

02:13 for law enforcement.

02:15 There is a partisan divide there.

02:16 Trump supporters are a bit more likely than Biden supporters

02:19 to say that this should be a priority,

02:21 but overall Americans think that this is important

02:23 and that's an area where there's some agreement.

02:26 - And I think I noted there was also wide agreement

02:30 on mental health.

02:31 It seems like people broadly agree

02:33 that discussions of mental health issues,

02:35 mental health conditions is a good thing for society.

02:38 Is that correct?

02:40 - Yeah, that's right.

02:40 People seem to think that that's something

02:43 that is better for society

02:45 than when these issues were less discussed.

02:47 And so the specific thing that we asked about

02:50 is mental health and mental wellbeing,

02:52 which can cover a lot of ground, I think.

02:55 People aren't necessarily all thinking

02:57 of the exact same conversations when we ask about that,

03:01 but there's a very general belief

03:03 that that's something that's beneficial to society.

03:06 - So as you look across these issues

03:09 where there's agreement like mental health and policing,

03:12 and even areas where there's disagreement,

03:14 like racial attitudes and abortion

03:16 and the ones we've discussed,

03:17 what do you think the message to,

03:20 I'll start with our presumptive presidential candidates.

03:22 What is the message to Trump and Biden on these issues

03:26 and how they should shape their messaging?

03:28 - I don't think that there's necessarily one single message

03:31 that tells the candidates what they should focus on

03:33 or what they shouldn't focus on.

03:35 What I do think this report does

03:37 is show the wide variety of issues

03:40 that are important to Americans

03:42 as we approach the election.

03:44 All of these issues are of course, well, not all of them.

03:48 We identified some areas of agreement.

03:49 Many of these issues are contentious issues

03:52 and they're issues where Americans don't necessarily agree.

03:55 So from the perspective of the candidates,

03:57 of course they could say,

03:59 oh, well, I'm well within what my base wants

04:03 when I advocate for this policy,

04:06 but it also helps to paint a picture, I think,

04:08 of where the average voter stands

04:10 and where there might be some areas of agreement,

04:12 where there might be some areas

04:14 where the candidates could potentially

04:16 come to some common ground.

04:19 But ultimately, this isn't about messaging.

04:21 This report isn't about messaging.

04:23 It's not about what the best way to win voters is.

04:26 It's about where the voters stand

04:28 and what ground they're on currently.

04:30 - So what's your prevailing message

04:33 about where voters stand and what ground they're on currently?

04:37 What should our audience, what should policymakers,

04:40 even maybe corporate leaders take away from this?

04:42 - So it's almost become conventional wisdom

04:47 to say that Americans are divided,

04:48 that there's a lot of political polarization today,

04:52 but I think that this report helps to show that

04:55 beyond just the cliche,

04:56 beyond just the simple matter of divisions.

04:59 I think this report helps to show

05:01 where there are specific divides,

05:02 where people have strongly held beliefs

05:05 that conflict with each other,

05:07 and they help to show us which directions

05:10 the country could potentially go in,

05:12 depending on which presidential candidate wins

05:14 and whose supporters get the victory in the election.

05:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Pew Research Survey Reveals What Biden And Trump Supporters Agree On

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