Poll: Corruption

This Navigator Research report covers corruption and the best messages to cut through the corrupt clutter.

By a 7-point margin, Americans say the Republican Party (44 percent) is more corrupt than the Democratic Party (37 percent). When Trump is added to the mix, that margin grows to +15, with half of Americans (49 percent) saying Trump and the Republican Party are more corrupt and a third saying Democrats are more corrupt (34 percent).

• Independents and non-MAGA Republicans are more likely to say Trump and Republicans are more corrupt than when the question is asked as a comparison between the two parties.

By an 8-point margin, a majority of Americans believe that Donald Trump is bringing more corruption to Washington (54 percent), rather than fixing corruption in Washington (46 percent), up from a 2-point margin in February. This change is driven primarily by independents, who now say Trump is bringing more corruption by a 22-point margin (up from +8 in February).

While Democrats may feel they are coming out clean in Washington’s latest race to the bottom, Americans are not ready to declare a winner in this particular loser-off.

• Nearly 40 percent of independents – a plurality – say both parties are equally corrupt.
• Americans are split on which party they trust more to handle the issue of corruption: 41 percent say Democrats, 42 percent say Republicans, 17 percent don’t know.
  • Critically, a plurality of independents (41 percent) say they don’t know which party they trust more to handle corruption.
  • Independents who do choose a side lean towards trusting Republicans: a third (33 percent) say they trust Donald Trump and the Republican Party more on this issue, while just 26 percent trust the Democratic Party.

Corruption–it’s a feature, not a bug

Given that Americans see corruption as a feature of both parties, messages that finger-point at Donald Trump and assert the historic and unprecedented nature of his corruption are less likely to break through than messages that meet Americans where they are.

We tested two messages against the same Republican message.

Message 1 (Unprecedented): The scale of corruption under Trump massively outweighs that of any past presidency, Democrat or Republican, and we need to do something about it.

Message 2 (Major Reform): Washington has a major corruption problem in both parties, and we need to enact significant reforms and overhaul the system to hold Trump, as well as other Republicans and Democrats, accountable for corruption.

Republican Message: Trump isn’t any more corrupt than any other president in American history. Anyone who says otherwise just wants to hurt Trump.

The Unprecedented message beats the Republican message by 13 points (50 percent- 37 percent). However, the Major Reform message crushes the Republican message by 41 points (64 percent – 23 percent).

While the Unprecedented message undoubtedly feels good to the speaker, it doesn’t break through to key audiences as definitively as the Major Reform message.

• Independents: Unprecedented: +12, Major Reform: +49
• Non-MAGA Republicans: Unprecedented: -32, Major Reform: +16
• Young men: Unprecedented: +8, Major Reform: +27
• Passive news consumers: Unprecedented: +8, Major Reform: +31

Profit and Punish

Americans are not yet willing to live in a post-moral society:

• Among all Americans, Democrats, and independents, “abusing government power to punish critics or reward allies” is most concerning.
• Republicans are most concerned about “profiting personally from government decisions or information.”

While less concerning than the top two, 27 percent of Americans are concerned about the spoils system: “Giving government jobs or perks in exchange for loyalty.”

A list of Trump’s recent greatest hits finds that Americans are most concerned about: Elon Musk profiting off of government contracts, Trump firing watchdogs, and Trump accepting a luxury jet from Qatar.

After hearing about these specific actions, Americans are more likely to say that Trump is bringing more corruption to Washington. Initially, Americans said Trump was bringing more corruption to Washington by an 8-point margin. That margin grows to +16 after hearing the corruption greatest hits. The change is driven primarily by Republicans, especially non-MAGA Republicans.

Recommendations:

1. Lead with a message that identifies corruption as an overarching Washington problem to be solved, without finger-pointing at Trump or saying Trump is unprecedented.

Identify specific examples of corruption: Trump firing watchdogs or accepting a luxury jet from Qatar.

2. Identify specific examples of corruption: Trump firing watchdogs or accepting a luxury jet from Qatar.

Why? Our research shows that Americans, in particular non-MAGA Republicans, are moved by these examples.

3. Bring solutions.

Why? Americans care about corruption and want big changes in Washington.