Voters Predict Even More Division If Trump Loses Reelection

Voters see a more divided America after four years of the Trump presidency but think the country is less divided than it was when Barack Obama stepped down. They’re also more convinced that a Trump defeat in November will make the division even worse.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 63% of Likely U.S. Voters think America is a more divided nation than it was four years ago. Only nine percent (9%) say the country is less divided, while 23% see the level of division as about the same. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Still this is an improvement over four years ago. Seventy-two percent (72%) described America as a more divided nation as the Obama presidency came to a close.

Forty-nine percent (49%) of voters say Trump is more to blame for the division in America, while 45% blame his political opponents more. This compares to 52% and 38% respectively last October.

But a plurality (46%) now believes that America will become more divided if Trump is defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, up from 38% last fall. Thirty-five percent (35%) say the country would be less divided. Eighteen percent (18%) think the level of division would be about the same.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted August 26-27, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Biden’s lost ground since the close of the Democratic National Convention, and he and Trump are now running neck-and-neck in the latest Rasmussen Reports’ weekly White House Watch survey.

The older the voter, the more likely they are to believe that America is a more divided nation than it was four years ago.

Democrats (73%) are much more likely to see a more divided nation than Republicans (55%) and voters not affiliated with either major party (60%) are.

But then Republicans (65%) are far more likely to see even more division ahead if Trump is defeated. Just 34% of Democrats and 39% of unaffiliated voters agree.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of Democrats and unaffiliateds by a 50% to 44% margin blame Trump more for the division. Seventy percent (70%) of GOP voters think the president’s opponents are more to blame.

When it comes to the violent anti-police protests that continue in several major cities, most voters are sure of this: Trump sides with the cops, while Democratic leaders line up with the protesters.

Most voters don’t expect a presidential winner to be announced on Election Day. Perhaps in part, that’s because the majority of Democrats agrees with Hillary Clinton that Joe Biden should not concede if the race is close.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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