JANUARY HARVARD CAPS / HARRIS POLL: TRUMP TO ENTER OFFICE WITH APPROVAL RATING 14 POINTS HIGHER THAN BIDEN, WITH VOTERS PRIORITIZING INFLATION AND IMMIGRATION

BIDEN AND DEMOCRATIC PARTY APPROVAL RATINGS DROP TO LOWEST SINCE SUMMER OF 2022

66% OF VOTERS SAY THEY HOPE THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL END INFLATION

61% OF VOTERS APPROVE OF THE TIKTOK BAN

NEW YORK and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) today released the results of the January Harvard CAPS / Harris poll, a monthly collaboration between the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard (CAPS) and the Harris Poll and HarrisX.

President Joe Biden will leave office with his lowest approval rating since July 2022 at 39%, while President-Elect Donald Trump will enter with an approval rating of 53%. Voters continue to prioritize inflation and immigration as top issues and policy priorities for the new administration. The poll also covers public opinion on policy issues, media behavior, and foreign affairs. Download key results here.

"Trump is off to a reasonable start – past the 50 percent mark in approval rating – and has some real broad-based support," said Mark Penn, Co-Director of the Harvard CAPS / Harris poll and Stagwell Chairman and CEO. "People have high hopes that he will fix the economy, address immigration, and restore American values."

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION APPROVAL RATINGS HIT LOW; INFLATION AND IMMIGRATION REMAIN TOP PRIORITIES

• Biden's job approval rating sits at 39% – his lowest since July 2022 (Democrat: 73%; Republican: 15%; Independent: 31%). Meanwhile, Trump's approval rating is at 53% (Democrat: 20%; Republican: 88%; Independent: 49%). More than a majority of male, white, suburban, rural, and 25-64 y.o. voters approve.
• 41% of voters approve of the Democratic Party (-1 from November 2024) – the lowest approval rating since June 2024 and the summer of 2022. 52% of voters approve of the Republican Party (+3).
• Inflation and immigration remain the top two issues for voters, with a slight increase in concern over terrorism and national security (+4).
• 44% of voters approve of Biden's handling of the presidential transition to Trump, while 51% approve of Trump's handling of the transition.

PERCEPTIONS OF TRUMP POLICIES AND THE NEW ADMINISTRATION SHOW PROMISE

• 56% of voters believe Trump has been trying to unify rather than divide the country after the election (Democrat: 23%; Republican: 88%; Independent: 55%).
• Of Trump's cabinet picks, more voters favor rather than oppose the appointments of Marco Rubio (+10), Mike Huckabee (+10), and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (+9). Voters are split on Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, and a plurality of voters don't know over half of Trump's picks.
• Of Trump's policies, deportations of illegal immigrants who have committed crimes (71%) and ending the Israel-Hamas conflict are the most popular (66%). Withdrawing from NATO (24%) and renaming the Gulf of Mexico (28%) are the least popular.
• Voters say their greatest hopes for the new Trump administration are that he will end inflation (66%), improve national security (46%), and revitalize the American economy (41%) and American values (39%).
• Voters say top fears are Trump behaving like a dictator (44%), political gridlock (38%), damage to American international reputation and relationships (36%), and damage to federal government and agencies (36%).

VOTERS SUPPORT RECENT SOCIAL MEDIA MOVES INCLUDING TIKTOK BAN AND FACEBOOK COMMUNITY NOTES; CONTINUE TO USE PLATFORMS FOR NEWS

• 61% of voters approve of the TikTok ban, and 55% of voters say TikTok represents a national security threat to the U.S.
• 37% of voters are regular users of TikTok (Democrat: 44%; Republican: 36%; Independent: 31%). Voters are split on whether the app has a positive or negative effect on users, with Democrats favoring the app.
• 53% of voters say they support Mark Zuckerberg in his recent actions to eliminate fact-checking on Facebook and move toward community notes to reduce bias (Democrat: 38%; Republican: 70%; Independent: 51%).
• Facebook, Google, and YouTube are the most popular social media platforms among voters for news (Facebook: 48%; Google: 44%; YouTube: 43%).
• 44% of voters believe X represents opinions on both sides of politics equally, the highest percentage among all major social media platforms. 21% of voters believe Facebook is biased in favor of the political left.

VOTERS BELIEVE AI SHOULD BE REGULATED BUT SAY IT IS TOO LATE

• A plurality of voters (46%) believe it is too late to stop or regulate AI, though 61% agree there should be some type of regulation akin to those on critical industries like healthcare, finance, or aviation.
• Voters cite concerns of AI becoming too dangerous (31%) and being weaponized (28%) as top reasons for regulation.
• 52% of voters, however, cite large tech corporation control over AI as the top reason to avoid regulating AI.

PERCEPTIONS ON AUTHORITIES' RESPONSES TO LOS ANGELES FIRES SPLIT ALONG PARTISAN LINES

• 54% of voters say the L.A. fires were an event authorities could have been prepared for (Democrat: 38%; Republican: 70%; Independent: 54%).
• Voters were split over whether city, state, and federal governments responded to the fires adequately. The majority of Democrats said the responses were appropriate, while the majority of Republicans said they were inadequate.
• 57% of voters believe California Governor Gavin Newsom is guilty of mismanaging resources and making the fires worse, and 60% of voters believe the same of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

VOTERS SUPPORT CEASEFIRE DEAL IN ISRAEL-HAMAS CONFLICT, CREDITING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

• 82% of voters support the ceasefire deal, especially Democrats (87%) and voters over 55 years of age (88%).
• 57% of voters credit the incoming Trump administration with the deal over negotiation efforts from Biden, including a majority of Republicans (84%) and Independents (60%).
• Support for Israel over Hamas in the conflict remains high with 79% of voters supporting Israel.

The January Harvard CAPS / Harris poll survey was conducted online within the United States on January 15-16, 2025, among 2,650 registered voters by The Harris Poll and HarrisX. Follow the Harvard CAPS / Harris poll podcast at https://www.markpennpolls.com/ or on iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms. 

About The Harris Poll & HarrisX

The Harris Poll is a global consulting and market research firm that strives to reveal the authentic values of modern society to inspire leaders to create a better tomorrow. It works with clients in three primary areas: building twenty-first-century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. One of the longest-running surveys in the U.S., The Harris Poll has tracked public opinion, motivations, and social sentiment since 1963, and is now part of Stagwell, the challenger holding company built to transform marketing.

HarrisX is a technology-driven market research and data analytics company that conducts multi-method research in the U.S. and over 40 countries around the world on behalf of Fortune 100 companies, public policy institutions, global leaders, NGOs and philanthropic organizations. HarrisX was the most accurate pollster of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

About the Harvard Center for American Political Studies

The Center for American Political Studies (CAPS) is committed to and fosters the interdisciplinary study of U.S. politics. Governed by a group of political scientists, sociologists, historians, and economists within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, CAPS drives discussion, research, public outreach, and pedagogy about all aspects of U.S. politics. CAPS encourages cutting-edge research using a variety of methodologies, including historical analysis, social surveys, and formal mathematical modeling, and it often cooperates with other Harvard centers to support research training and encourage cross-national research about the United States in comparative and global contexts. More information at https://caps.gov.harvard.edu/.

Contact:

Carrie Hsu

[email protected]

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