Most feel democracy is threatened and political violence is a major problem Domenico Montanaro, NPR News Seventy-six percent of Americans think that democracy is under a serious threat, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. And their faith in political leadership in the White House and Congress is low.
What Americans think about Trump’s deportations right now Joshua Barajas, PBS News As President Donald Trump seeks to keep his campaign promise of mass deportations, a majority of Americans say actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have “gone too far,” according to a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll. Many Americans Concerned about Additional Retaliation from Iran — NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll Marist Institute for Public Opinion • Americans Divide About the United States' Airstrikes in Iran • Trump Approval Rating Upside Down but Steady • Americans Think a President Should Obey Court Rulings • Nearly Two in Three Think America’s “Openness” is Essential to U.S. Identity • A Majority Do Not Think U.S. Deportation Policies are Making the U.S. Safer • A Majority Believe Actions of ICE Have Gone Too Far More Americans think the U.S. is in a constitutional crisis than think the U.S. is a democracy Jamie Ballard, YouGov A new YouGov survey finds that majorities of Americans feel the U.S. is in a constitutional crisis, believe the U.S. is much more politically divided than it was five years ago, and are concerned about white-supremacist extremism.
Pride in being American has fallen in the past year Jamie Ballard, YouGov A new YouGov survey explores Americans’ July 4 plans, their feelings on patriotism and what it means to be American, and how they see their fellow citizens. Fewer Americans describe themselves as proud to be American now than did in 2024, and more describe their fellow citizens as reactionary.
Fox News Poll: 6 in 10 are proud of US today – the most in more than a decade Victoria Balara, Fox News Overall, one-third trust the federal government compared to nearly two-thirds who distrust it.
Trump’s approval ratings rebound following Middle East cease-fire Eli Yokley & Cameron Easley, Morning Consult Half of voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance (down from 53% last week), while 47% approve (up from 45%) following a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Iran that came after the U.S. military’s bombing of several nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic. Trump’s net approval rating on national security issues ticked up since last week, with 53% now approving and 40% disapproving. Trump Clings To Solid Ratings For Leadership, Despite Dems’ Ongoing Negative Views: I&I/TIPP Poll Terry Jones, Issues & Insights President Donald Trump’s eventful presidency continues to leave most Democrats and independents unimpressed, but he gets top grades from Republicans, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows.
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Dissatisfaction with democracy remains widespread in many nations Richard Wike, Janell Fetterolf and Jonathan Schulman, Pew Research Center Public dissatisfaction with democracy continues to outweigh satisfaction across 12 high-income countries that Pew Research Center has surveyed consistently since 2017.
Voters Oppose NOAA and FEMA Cuts as the 2025 Disaster Season Heats Up Grace Adcox, Elias Kemp and Brynne Robbins, Data for Progress New polling from Data for Progress finds that many voters report limited familiarity with their state’s emergency management agency and NOAA, despite their importance. More than 2 in 5 voters (43%) say they have heard “nothing at all” about NOAA, and 45% say they have heard nothing about their state’s emergency management agency. In comparison, only a quarter of voters (24%) are unfamiliar with FEMA.
Turnout In The 2024 Election Max McCall and Harrison Lavelle, Split Ticket In 2024, 65.1% of all voting-age citizens cast a ballot in the presidential election. This is down slightly from the 67.9% turnout in 2020, but is significantly higher than most other recent presidential elections. Across the country, familiar trends emerge: wealthier, and more educated areas tended to have higher turnout. The north, particularly the Upper Midwest and the Pacific Northwest, similarly have higher turnout than Appalachia and the Black Belt. None of this is unusual, and it all tracks closely with similar turnout trends from previous elections. To get a clearer answer on how turnout impacted the 2024 results, then, we have to dive deeper.
The Apathy Election: Political Engagement Dropped Dramatically in 2024 Ryan Burge, Graphs about Religion Especially atheists and agnostics Voters favored casting early and mail ballots in last year’s presidential election, report shows Christina A. Cassidy, Associated Press Casting mailed ballots remained popular among voters in last year’s presidential election, even as President Donald Trump has tried to undercut the process through a wide-ranging executive order. A report released Monday by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission also found a surge in early in-person voting and robust use of ballot drop boxes, which have been a target of conspiracy theorists since the 2020 election. Americans’ views of the opposite party have declined even further John Sides (Vanderbilt), Good Authority New data shows another increase in “affective polarization.” A Saber-Rattling Musk Promises a New Political Party if the G.O.P. Bill Passes Theodore Schleifer, New York Times [unlocked] The billionaire and former Trump adviser suggested that if the domestic policy bill passed, he would swiftly form a new “America Party” and back primary challenges to Republicans. The real reason Republicans are rushing to pass the Trump megabill James Downie, MSNBC Much of what this bill does is ultimately immaterial to the president. Trump Insults America—Again Tom Nichols, The Atlantic [unlocked] The president of the United States seems to have no interest in appealing to a national sense of pride or honor. America and China Are Becoming More Alike Every Day Jacob Dreyer, New York Times [unlocked] The MAGA movement and its leaders demonize the Chinese Communist Party. But some of their actions validate the party’s ways, showing that practically speaking, they seem to want similar things. How to Wreck the Nation’s Health, by the Numbers Steven H. Woolf (Virginia Commonwealth U.), New York Times [unlocked] Researchers like me know the data. For years we have warned that Americans have shorter life expectancies and higher disease rates than people in other high-income countries. Now, the poor health of Americans is about to get worse.
This is what ICE is doing with the tax dollars you already provide it Philip Bump, Washington Post [unlocked] Immigration and Customs Enforcement stands to see a sharp increase in its funding under the Republican budget bill. How inaccurate claims by Trump were used to justify executive actions Linda Qiu, New York Times [unlocked] Many executive actions reflect Mr. Trump’s messaging, in some cases closely echoing inaccurate claims that have long been a feature of his public appearances. The media’s weasel wording helps Trump Mark Jacob, Stop the Presses Here are 5 ways news outlets sugar-coat fascism with euphemisms. Bacon and Carolina BBQ: Breaking Down Two Key Republican Retirements Kyle Kondik and J. Miles Coleman, Sabato’s Crystal Ball It may not have been exactly the case that Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Rep. Don Bacon (R, NE-2) were, respectively, the most vulnerable Republican Senate and House incumbents next year. One could make the case for others in each chamber, but they each would have had to have been high on the list. Whether either could have hung on next year is a question we won’t be able to answer, though, as both announced their retirements over the past couple of days. Thom Tillis’s retirement is an ominous sign for the GOP Noah Berlatsky, Public Notice Trump's big bad bill is already damaging the party. Sound Familiar? Democrats Lay Groundwork for a ‘Project 2029’ Shane Goldmacher, New York Times [unlocked] The plan to write a policy agenda for the next Democratic president is at the center of a raging debate within the party: whether its biggest problem is its ideas or its difficulty in selling them. Democratic groups target 'non-political spaces' in new campaign ahead of fall elections and 2026 midterms Megan Lebowitz, NBC News A group of unions — another key Democratic constituency — is launching a separate summer organizing effort that will target states President Donald Trump won in the last election. Can the abundance movement save the Democrats? Naftali Bendavid, Washington Post [unlocked] The idea of building, fixing and providing more is sweeping the Democratic Party. But some critics say that in the era of Trump, it entirely misses the point. Who Cracked the Latino Working Class Code: Mamdani or Gallego? The Great Transformation with Mike Madrid A Democratic Socialist and a Centrist Democrat have proven that Latino working-class voters are driven by anti-establishment pocketbook populist sentiment, not ideology. Both Ruben Gallego and Zohran Mamdani focused on working-class struggles when making their case to Latino voters, and both adopted very different policies. But guess what…? Both worked. Mamdani’s victory brings concerns, and lessons, for Democrats Douglas E. Schoen and Carly Cooperman (Schoen Cooperman Research), The Hill One can believe that Democrats should absorb the lessons of how to run an energetic, upbeat campaign while also being alarmed at the direction Democrats appear to be heading in. The Whole Country Is Starting to Look Like California Rogé Karma, The Atlantic [unlocked] Something is happening in the housing market that really shouldn’t be. Everyone familiar with America’s affordability crisis knows that it is most acute in ultra-progressive coastal cities in heavily Democratic states. And yet, home prices have been rising most sharply in the exact places that have long served as a refuge for Americans fed up with the spiraling cost of living. Projection in journalists’ perceptions of public opinion Fabian Prochazka, Karolin Soontjens, Kathleen Beckers, David Nicolas Hopmann and Andreas Schuck, Journalism Journalists’ perceptions of public opinion influence their reporting. Yet, the factors driving these public opinion perceptions are not well understood. This study examines one such potential factor, namely the impact of journalists’ own policy opinions on their estimations of public opinion. Who’s the most American? Psychological studies show that many people are biased and think it’s a white English speaker Katherine Kinzler (University of Chicago), The Conversation Psychologically, some people may just seem a little more American than others, based on factors such as race, ethnicity or language. Reinforced by identity politics, this results in different ideas about who is welcome, who is tolerated and who is made to not feel welcome at all. Why MAGA Loves the 1950s Claude S. Fischer, Made in America Republicans are focusing on one decade as the epitome of the good life. AI as Governance Henry Farrell (Johns Hopkins), Annual Review of Political Science AI's major political consequences can be considered under two headings. First, we may treat AI as a technology of governance, asking how AI's capacities to classify information at scale affect markets, bureaucracy, and democracy. Second, we might treat AI as an emerging form of governance in its own right, with its own particular mechanisms of representation and coordination. These two perspectives reveal new questions for political scientists, encouraging them to reconsider the boundaries of their discipline. Trump drops federal lawsuit against Iowa pollster Ann Selzer, refiles in state court Zoë Richards and Gary Grumbach, NBC News President Donald Trump on Monday dropped his federal lawsuit against Iowa pollster Ann Selzer and The Des Moines Register over a poll that found Democratic nominee Kamala Harris leading in Iowa shortly before Election Day in November, before refiling it hours later in state court. With the Big, Beautiful Bill, You Can Now Sponsor a Billionaire of Your Choosing Alexandra Petri, The Atlantic [unlocked] The Big, Beautiful Bill assigns each American a billionaire who will live the American dream for you.
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PLAYLIST
What Americans Think About SCOTUS, Iran, And The 'Big Beautiful Bill' GD POLITICS In this episode I speak with Mary Radcliffe and Lenny Bronner about how Americans are reacting to everything that’s going on. We also check out a new analysis of special elections since Trump took office. Yes, Democrats are over-performing, but not to the same degree everywhere.
Bret Baier On Trump’s Love-Hate Relationship with Fox News The Political Scene “Special Report,” Fox’s 6 P.M. broadcast, anchored by Bret Baier, is essential to the conservative-media complex. Baier draws more than three million viewers a night, at times surpassing legacy brands like “CBS Evening News,” despite being available in half as many homes. Baier insists on his impartiality, but his network’s reputation as an outlet for the right and its connection to President Trump himself can make his job representing the news arm of the network more challenging. And, when it comes to Trump and his relationship to the media, Baier tells David Remnick, “I think it is this cat-and-mouse game. You know, for all of the things he says about the media . . . he’s reaching out and doing interviews with the same people he says are nasty.”
'Terrible': Enten on Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' approval numbers CNN CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten breaks down new polls on how Americans view President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill.”
Tamara Keith and Amy Walter on Trump's big bill facing GOP opposition PBS NewsHour NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter join Amna Nawaz to discuss the latest political news, including lawmakers voting on President Trump’s "One Big Beautiful Bill," some GOP members standing up against Trump and the strategy for Democrats in future elections.
