Voters in key states who will likely decide the election trust former President Trump more than President Biden to handle threats to democracy, according to a survey released Wednesday.
The poll, conducted by The Washington Post/Schar School, surveyed voters across six swing states and identified a subgroup of respondents labeled as “deciders.” It found that 38 percent of “deciders” said Trump would do a better job of handling threats of democracy to the U.S., while 29 percent said Biden and 23 percent said neither.
Roughly 60 percent of the group also said they are not satisfied at all with how democracy is working in the U.S.
Those labeled as “deciders” include respondents who voted in the 2016 or 2020 election, are under the age of 25, have been registered to vote since 2022, are undecided and may not vote or someone who changed the party they support between 2016 and 2020.
Among all swing state voters, 44 percent said they trust the presumptive GOP nominee more to protect democracy, while 33 percent said the incumbent. About 16 percent said they trusted neither, and 7 percent said they trusted both equally, per the poll.
Nearly three-quarters of “deciders” said they believe Trump would not accept the results of the election if he lost in November, while 33 percent said the same of Biden. Nearly half of the subgroup said Trump would try to be a dictator if he won, and just 15 percent said Biden would.
The recent poll comes ahead of the first 2024 presidential debate, where Trump and Biden will face off for the first time since 2020, as the two prepare for a rematch election in November. The forum, hosted by CNN and moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, will take place Thursday at 9 p.m. EDT.
The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s national polling average shows Trump leading with 45 percent of support to Biden’s 43.8 percent of support.
The poll surveyed 3,513 voters across the key swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin between April 15 and May 30. The pollsters identified 2,255 “deciders” from the respondents.
The margin of error for “deciders” was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.