Opinion Weekend
October 4-5, 2025
Three-Quarters of Public Say Congress Should Extend Enhanced ACA Tax Credits KFF 7 in 10 Marketplace Enrollees Say They Could Not Afford Coverage if Their Premiums Doubled; 4 in 10 Say They Would Expect to Be Uninsured
5 Charts About Public Opinion on the Affordable Care Act KFF Public opinion of the Affordable Care Act has been largely divided along partisan lines since the law was passed in 2010. Following Republican efforts to repeal the ACA in the summer of 2017, KFF Health Tracking Polls show an uptick in overall favorability towards the law, and since then, a larger share has held a favorable than an unfavorable view.
CBS News poll finds Americans say political violence unacceptable; concerned about more of it in future Anthony Salvanto, Fred Backus and Jennifer De Pinto, CBS News There’s widespread apprehension among Americans: They overwhelmingly decry political violence, saying it is unacceptable. Yet they also think it will increase in the coming years.
Violence, redistricting, and democratic norms in Trump’s America: Parallel surveys of 703 American political science faculty and a representative sample of Americans Bright Line Watch • Ratings of American democracy among the public as a whole and among experts are lower since President Trump returned to office, but they have not changed measurably since our April 2025 survey. Expectations for 2027 remain pessimistic among experts. • Current expert ratings of U.S. democracy are closer to those of a mixed or illiberal democracy than a full democracy or countries often considered as relevant comparisons such as Great Britain and Canada. • The partisan gap in ratings of U.S. democracy is at its highest since we started collecting data on this question in 2017. • Looking ahead, many potential actions by the Trump administration were rated as extraordinary or serious threats to democracy by 89% of experts or more, including Trump seeking a third term, the suspension of habeas corpus, invoking the Insurrection Act, and directing law enforcement officials to not to enforce court orders.
Fears about the future of U.S. democracy fall, despite recent controversies Andrew Romano, Yahoo News When Yahoo and YouGov re-asked a series of questions about the state of U.S. democracy that were originally posed to the public in June 2022 — during Congress’s contentious Jan. 6 hearings — the responses showed a clear trend away from fears about the future. To be sure, such anxieties remain elevated.
Where Americans stand on crime in cities Clifford Young, Ipsos Five charts on concern with crime, perceived levels of crime, and attitudes towards recent National Guard deployments in American cities
How Americans View the Israel-Hamas Conflict 2 Years Into the War Ted Van Green, Steven Shepard, Andy Cerda, Gabriel Borelli and Jocelyn Kiley, Pew Research Center Nearly two years into Israel’s military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Americans’ skepticism of Israel’s operation and its government is higher than at earlier points in the conflict: • 39% now say Israel is going too far in its military operation against Hamas. This is up from 31% a year ago and 27% in late 2023. • 59% now hold an unfavorable opinion of the Israeli government, up from 51% in early 2024.
Many American Jews sharply critical of Israel on Gaza, Post poll finds Naftali Bendavid, Scott Clement and Emily Guskin, Washington Post [unlocked] Most Jews say Israel is committing war crimes — and 39 percent say genocide — while often distinguishing between the country and its leadership.
Supermajority of Democrats Support Sanctions Against Israel Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project A poll released Friday, October 3, by IMEU Policy Project and Gen-Z for Change, and conducted by YouGov, found for the first time that Democratic voters strongly support sanctions on the Israeli government. The survey of over 1,200 likely Democratic primary voters found these voters strongly support imposing sanctions on the Israeli government (65%), believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza (72%), and oppose renewing the memorandum of understanding agreement to provide annual weapons funding to Israel (75%). Most Americans continue to rate the U.S. economy negatively as partisan gap widens Joseph Copeland, Pew Research Center U.S. adults’ ratings of the national economy continue to be more negative than positive: 26% now say economic conditions are excellent or good, while 74% say they are only fair or poor. These overall ratings are mostly unchanged during the past three years. But Republicans and Democrats have shifted considerably over this period.
Feeling the pressure of rising grocery costs battleground voters lay the blame on Trump and Republicans in Congress Ian Smith & Maryann Cousens, Navigator Research This Navigator Research report covers perceptions of tariffs in the House battleground. • Battleground constituents believe tariffs are increasing costs, and believe the worst cost increases are yet to come. • Congressional Republicans are seen as responsible for tariffs, though less responsible than Donald Trump for cost increases associated with tariffs. • The cost of groceries is the greatest burden associated with tariff cost increases, as grocery costs are also the most important to personal budgets.
Only 15% of Americans agree with the unproven claim that Tylenol causes autism Andrew Romano, Yahoo News A new Yahoo/YouGov survey finds that nearly seven in 10 believe autism is “a complex condition that can’t be reduced to a single cause.” Under Half in U.S. Would Recommend Some Routine Vaccinations During Pregnancy Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania Data from a new APPC health survey conducted August 5-18, 2025, among nearly 1,700 U.S. adults on a nationally representative panel, finds a reluctance among the public to recommend that someone who is pregnant get a Covid-19 vaccine, with just 38% saying they would do so.
What do Americans think of Trump’s and Newsom’s social media? Alexander Rossell Hayes, YouGov In the past two months, American politics has seen a new development on social media: a tonal shift from California governor and potential 2028 presidential candidate Gavin Newsom. A September YouGov poll finds that most Americans view Donald Trump’s use of social media negatively. Evaluations of Newsom’s social media use are less negative.
Virginia: Spanberger holds wide lead in governor’s race, Post-Schar School poll finds Gregory S. Schneider, Erin Cox, Scott Clement and Emily Guskin, Washington Post [unlocked] The Democrat is outperforming her ticket in a race where the economy is weighing heavily on voters’ minds.
