WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Forty-one percent of U.S. adults say they are “very concerned” that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is too closely aligned with people who hold radical views, and another 14% are “somewhat concerned.” Thirty-four percent of Americans are very concerned and 15% somewhat concerned about Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ ties with political radicals.
The results are based on an Oct. 1-12 Gallup poll.
A key feature of this year’s presidential campaign has been the candidates’ attempts to portray their opponent as ideologically extreme, whether calling out each other’s past or present policy positions or links to controversial political figures or movements.
Notably, views of Trump’s political alliances are little changed from his 2020 reelection campaign, when 40% were very concerned and 14% somewhat concerned about his being too closely linked to people holding radical political opinions.
Harris’ figures are similar to those of Joe Biden four years ago -- 31% were very concerned and 16% somewhat concerned about Biden during the 2020 campaign.
Gallup first asked this question in June 2008 after controversies surrounding Barack Obama’s ties to his pastor and associations with 1960s activist William Ayers, as well as John McCain’s seeking (but ultimately rejecting) the endorsement of a controversial preacher. At that time, 28% of Americans were very concerned that Obama was too closely aligned with people holding radical views, and 24% were somewhat concerned. Fewer Americans expressed high (17%) or moderate (25%) concern about McCain.
Concern Seen Mostly Among Candidates’ Political Opponents
Partisans are inclined to express worry about the political ties of the opposing party’s candidate, and little about their own party’s candidate. Eighty-five percent of Democrats are “very concerned” about Trump’s possible alliances with radicals. That level of concern is shared by 38% of independents and 6% of Republicans. The slim majority of Republicans, 54%, are “not at all concerned” about Trump’s allies.
Meanwhile, 69% of Republicans are very concerned about Harris being aligned too closely with people holding radical views, as are 30% of independents and 2% of Democrats.
Americans aged 65 and older are more likely than those under age 65 to express concern about both candidates, but more so for Trump than Harris. Fifty-five percent of older adults say they are very concerned about Trump being too closely aligned with political radicals, compared with 39% of adults under age 65. For Harris, the figures are 36% among older Americans and 27% among younger Americans.
Bottom Line
Many Americans are very concerned that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris may be too closely tied to people holding political views outside of the mainstream. These perceptions are similar to what Gallup measured in the last presidential election and are primarily expressed by people from the opposing political party. However, the greater proportion of independents who are very or somewhat concerned that Trump has radical ties (61%) than say this about Harris (51%) could cost Trump with independents, as could the higher proportion of Republicans concerned about Trump (16%) than Democrats are about Harris (6%). This pattern, along with concerns about Trump’s character more generally, could explain why the election is so close in a year where the political environment clearly favors the Republican Party.
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