Stunning data from a New York Times/Siena poll find the majority of registered voters believe the media is a “threat” to democracy.
The poll details released Tuesday showed that a whopping 71% of the 792 registered voters questioned say “American democracy is currently under threat.”
Among those who fear for democracy, 84% of them, or roughly 60% of all registered voters, view “mainstream media” as some sort of threat. A majority, 59%, call the media a “major threat to democracy” while an additional 25% call it a “minor threat to democracy.” Only 15% who say democracy is under threat do not blame the media.
Registered voters are even united against the media despite their party affiliation. 95% of Republicans, 83% of Independents and even 70% of Democrats who believe democracy is under threat say the media is some sort of threat. However, while 80% of those Republicans and 53% of those Independents call the media a “major” threat, just 38% of those Democrats feel the same.
MEDIA REACT TO NEW YORK TIMES POLL’S BAD NEWS FOR DEMOCRATS: ‘IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID’
Among those who say democracy is under threat, the media outranks Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Republicans, Democrats, the Supreme Court, the Electoral College, voting by mail and voting machines as being a major threat to democracy.
67% of those registered voters collectively view Trump as a threat to democracy and 84% of those Democrats called the former president a “major threat.” 60% of those registered voters collectively said the same thing about Biden with 78% of those Republicans calling the current president a “major threat.”
70% of those Independents view Trump as some sort of threat to democracy while 62% of them felt the same about Biden.
Democrats who say democracy is under threat also cited the Supreme Court and the Electoral College as prominent threats while Republicans similarly cited the federal government, voting by mail and voting machines.
