Trump-Encouraged Conspiracies Dent Confidence in the US System

MADRID, 3 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Donald Trump's time in the White House marked a turning point in the trust that citizens have in their institutions and, in particular, in the electoral system. The former president questioned the transparency of the elections from which he was defeated, with some conspiracy theories that continue to make a dent in the face of the imminent legislative elections.

In the 2020 electoral process, Trump questioned basic pillars of the system such as voting by mail and, after the victory of his rival, Democrat Joe Biden, he continued to question the transparency of the same framework that four years earlier had allowed him to sit in the Oval Office. From his loudspeaker on social networks, he encouraged all kinds of theories and mobilizations such as those that would trigger the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Two years later, the polls continue to reflect the residue of anti-system messages. A survey published in July by Gallup placed small businesses, the Armed Forces and the Police among the institutions that generated the most trust and Congress at the bottom of this list: only 12 percent trust this body at least "quite a bit". bicameral.

This study reflected an average level of trust in all institutions without precedent in more than more than four decades --just 27 percent--, with especially low rates in the case of Republicans. Only 5 percent of supporters of Trump's party believe in the work of Congress and 2 percent in that of the current president.

Republican suspicion is also evident in another survey by the Pew Research Center, carried out with a view to the legislative elections on November 8, where the two major parties will fight for control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Currently, both chambers are under Democratic control.

Seven out of ten Americans trust the organization of the current process, but the figure falls to 56 percent if only potential Republican voters are taken into account. Among Democrats, 88 percent believe the process will go fairly or very well, assuming there will be no issues calling its outcome into question.

In-person voting arouses a more or less generalized level of confidence, 79 percent among Republicans and 95 percent among Democrats, but the figures plummet in the case of voting by mail, according to the survey, prepared from almost 5,100 interviews. Barely 37 percent of Republican Party supporters trust a method that Trump has already harshly charged against in the 2020 elections, citing alleged flaws that have never been proven.

In fact, the residue of the tycoon's messages is noticeable among his faithful. If among the Republicans who declare themselves neutral or distant from Trump there are 67 percent of people who take the good management of the legislative elections for granted, the figure already drops to 55 percent when examining the opinions of those who feel close to the former president and 49 percent in the case of those who declare themselves very close.

In addition, Republicans far from Trump mostly trust voting by mail (56 percent), but only 26 percent of those who have a greater affinity with the former president think so, who in recent months has even raised the possibility of run again in the 2024 presidential elections.