We have been fortunate to have a front-row seat to history in the making the past 13 years.
During this time, we helped plan and advise Donald Trump becoming president in 2016, and now we helped his campaign in the primary and general election to become president again in 2024.
Without a doubt, Trump is the most uniquely remarkable and successful political candidate in American history.
No one in American history has ever overcome the adversity and vitriol from incumbent presidents, the political establishment, big media, and Big Tech — except for Donald J. Trump.
As testimony to Trump's comeback, we conducted our national post-election survey Nov. 4-6 among 1,000 voters. Although the media conducts their own exit polls, we ask some questions the media does not ask.
Among the most interesting results:
Voting for Trump
More voters were clearly more highly motivated to vote for Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris.
- Among the 50% of voters who voted for Trump, their top reasons for voting for him were issue-driven, including:
- His stand on economy 16%.
- His stand on immigration and the border 13%.
- His platform/fix mess 6%.
- Good job/record 6%.
- MAGA/save country 6%.
- Inflation 5%.
Overall issue responses accounted for 50% of the responses, while character responses were 49%.
- Trump voters were more likely to say their vote was more a vote FOR Trump 87%, and only 13% said their vote was more AGAINST Harris.
Those Who Voted Harris
Among the 48% who voted for Harris, they were more driven by personal negatives against Trump and were less likely to have a positive reason to vote for her.
Except for her negative attacks on Trump, Harris was messageless. There was no real reason to vote for her.
- Leading responses to vote for Harris were:
- Dislike Trump 24%.
- She is for folks like me 9%.
- Protect democracy 7%.
- Good views 6%.
- Women's reproductive rights 6%.
- Abortion 6%.
Overall, 61% of the responses were related to character and mainly attacks against Trump, which ultimately worked against her. Only 38% of the responses were related to issues that concerned the voters.
- Among Harris voters, 71% said their vote was a vote FOR Harris, while 29% said it was more a vote AGAINST Trump.
Voter Turnout
Compared to 2020, this was a slightly lower turnout election with almost 160 million votes cast.
As mail-in ballots are still trickling in, it is estimated almost 156 million votes were cast in 2024.
Trump's voters that made of 45% of the total 2020 vote were more likely to show up in 2024, while Biden's 51% of the 2020 vote represented only 46% of this year's vote.
The difference is the new voters who voted for Trump 52%-45%.
Character Referendum
Ultimately, Trump won the character battle over Harris.
It seems clear the voters thought Trump would be the better president and — despite the relentless media supported negative campaign of political character assassination against him, calling him a "Nazi, fascist, dictator and a threat to democracy" — Trump ended up being more likable to the majority of voters than Harris.
Wrong Track
Among all voters, nearly 2-in-3 said things in the U.S. were off on the wrong track: 63%. Only 30% said we were headed in the right direction:
- 82% of Trump voters said the country was on the wrong track.
- Harris voters were split: 46% saying right direction, 42% wrong track.
These voters who saw America on the wrong track became a reservoir of available voters for Trump:
- Among those who said the country was on the wrong track (n=629), they overwhelmingly blamed Biden: 69%.
- Among Trump voters, 91% blamed Biden for the wrong track.
- Only 23% of Harris voters blamed Biden.
Blaming Biden and Harris for America being on the wrong track worked to stop Harris from winning.
Job Approval
Attacking Biden's failure over the past four years was Trump's foundation for success.
Biden was a net negative on his job approval (-7 percentage points):
- 46% approve of job Biden had done.
- 53% disapprove.
At 90%, Trump voters disapproved of the job Biden was doing.
Although Harris tried to create a fiction that she was different than Biden, she was also a net negative on her job approval (-1 percentage point):
- 49% approve of job Harris had done.
- 50% disapprove.
At 90%, Trump voters disapproved of the job Harris was doing. Trump voters held Harris as culpable for America's failures as they did Biden.
Despite all the negative media attacks, the majority of voters approved of the job Trump did as president:
- 56% approved of Trump.
- Only 43% disapproved.
At 95%, Trump voters approved of the job Trump did as president.
DATING BACK TO 2016, THIS IS THE HIGHEST JOB APPROVAL WE EVER HAD FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP.
Again, this proves the focused character contrast based upon Trump's presidential performance versus Harris' failures as vice president worked to elect Trump.
Favorability
THIS POST ELECTION POLL ALSO HAD OUR HIGHEST FAVORABLE TO UNFAVORABLE RATING EVER FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP 51% FAVORABLE TO 48% UNFAVORABLE.
THIS CLOSELY MATCHED THE NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE.
At 93%, Trump voters were favorable to him.
Raising President Trump's job approval raised his favorable rating, which raised his national popular vote and allowed Trump to crack 50% in the popular vote.
Trump made all this progress despite strong, unprecedented opposition from the legacy media. The majority of voters say the national news media was more biased against Trump than Harris:
- Biased against Trump 54%.
- Biased against Harris 26%.
At 77%, Trump voters overwhelmingly said the media was more biased against him.
By contrast, the voters were less likely to be favorable to Biden and Harris. Biden's favorable to unfavorable rating was 45%-53%.
Harris' favorable to unfavorable rating was 50%-49%. Trump voters were 89% unfavorable to Harris. (But Trump was more well-liked than Harris.)
On the Issues
The top issues driving voters cut for Trump, including:
- Inflation and the cost of living 26%.
- Followed by the economy 11%.
- And the border/immigration 11%.
Other top issues included protecting democracy 8%, abortion 8%, and protecting Social Security and Medicare 6%.
Economy
Economic issues were more likely to benefit Trump. Among Trump voters, 60% of the leading concerns were economic issues. Security issues like the border accounted for 26% of the leading concerns among Trump voters.
Eight-in-10 voters (82%) have been impacted by inflation, and nearly half are struggling to keep up with basic necessities (49%).
In the lowest amount since the COVID crisis began, 54% of the voters said the economy is NOT in recession, while only 42% said it was in recession.
In the highest amount since 2021, 40% said the economy is getting better, but 55% still said the economy is getting worse.
At 77%, Trump voters were more likely to think the economy was getting worse, which drove their vote.
House, Senate Residuals
Trump's success extended to help Republicans win the Senate and House majorities.
Voters were evenly split on their choice for Congress:
- 48% Republican.
- 48% Democrat.
Trump voters supported Republicans for Congress 90%-6% versus Democrats.
Harris voters supported Democrats for Congress 93%-5% versus Republicans.
Among those who voted Republican for Congress, their leading reasons for their vote:
- Good positions/fix the mess 22%.
- For Republicans 10%.
- Economy/inflation 9%.
- Disliking extreme liberals 9%.
Republicans won the Congress with more issue-related responses (69%), while only 27% cited character-related responses.
Their vote was more a vote for Republicans 87% than a mere vote against Harris and the Democrats (11%).
Among those who voted for Democrats for Congress their leading responses were:
- Good views/positions 16%.
- For Democrats 15%.
- Disliking extreme Republicans 9%.
- Democrats are for people 7%.
- Dislike Trump 7%.
In this case, the Democrats for Congress, as compared to Harris, were more likely to be running on issues. Overall, 69% cited issue reasons to vote for Democrats for Congress. Only 25% cited character-related responses to vote for Democrats.
Their vote was more of a vote for Democrats 79%, than against Trump and Republicans (20%).
Voters think Republicans will do a better job at:
- Securing the border and dealing with illegal immigration: 59%-33%.
- Improving the economy and creating jobs: 52%-42%.
- Fighting crime and making people safer: 52%-39%.
- Holding the line on taxes 47%-42%.
- Protecting and promoting freedom and democracy: 49%-45%.
Overall, 49% thought the Republicans were more extreme, and 42% said Democrats were.
Voters think Democrats will do a better job at:
- Protecting Social Security and Medicare: 50%-44%.
- Representing their view on abortion: 51%-40%.
It is very clear the American people made the 2024 election the most prolific in all American history. They have elected Trump president again.
John McLaughlin has worked professionally as a strategic consultant and pollster for over 40 years. Jim McLaughlin is a nationally recognized public opinion expert, strategic consultant and political strategist who has helped to elect a U.S. president, prime ministers, a Senate majority leader, and a speaker of the House. Read John and Jim McLaughlin's Reports — More Here.
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