More than half of voters think Trump will act like a dictator if elected: poll

More than half of all voters believe former President Trump will act like a dictator if reelected to office, according to a new poll. 

The Harvard CAPS-Harris poll found that 56 percent of those surveyed at least somewhat agree that Trump, who is the clear front-runner for the GOP nomination, will act like a dictator if given a second term, including almost 40 percent who strongly agree.

The poll also found that 59 percent of voters believe Democrats are unfairly trying to scare voters over Trump by saying he wants to be a dictator. 

The results come after Trump made and doubled down on comments that he would act as a dictator if reelected president, but only on “day one” of his second term. 

“Democratic talking points are having an impact on Trump,” said Mark Penn, chairman of the Harvard CAPS-Harris poll. Penn added that the poll suggests people are worried Trump could abuse his power if elected. 

The poll found about half of all voters believe Trump would be a threat to democracy if he is reelected president, with Democrats overwhelmingly saying they believe so and Republicans overwhelmingly saying they do not think so. Independents were evenly split on the question. 

Pollsters found that Trump leads President Biden in a hypothetical head-to-head match-up by 5 points, 47 percent to 42 percent, with 12 percent undecided. With the undecided voters required to choose, Trump’s lead narrows to 4 points, 52 percent to 48 percent. 

Trump’s comments about being a dictator came at a town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity this month after Hannity asked him about reports that Trump plans to take more authoritarian tactics if reelected president next year. 

“To be clear, do you in any way have any plans whatsoever, if reelected president, to abuse power, to break the law, to use the government to go after people?” Hannity asked him. 

“He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said, no, no, no — other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator,” Trump said. 

Biden said at a fundraiser following the remark that no one should doubt that democracy is in jeopardy. 

“Trump’s not even hiding the ball anymore. He’s telling us exactly what he wants to do. He’s making no bones about it,” Biden said. 

The Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey was conducted from Dec. 13 to 14 and surveyed 2,034 registered voters. It is a collaboration of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and the Harris Poll. 

The survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.