The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 48% of Likely U.S. Voters believe Trump is acting like a dictator, while 46% think Trump is doing what
voters elected him to do.
The partisan split on this question is a mirror-reverse, with 74% of Democrats saying Trump is acting like a dictator, while the exact same percentage of Republicans (74%) view Trump as doing what voters elected him to do. Voters not affiliated with either major party are almost evenly divided, with 46% who believe Trump is doing what he was elected to do, 44% who think Trump is acting like a dictator and 10% not sure.
Trump recently provoked controversy when he posted a quote often attributed to French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte: “He who saves his country does not violate any law.” Forty-two percent (42%) of Likely Voters agree with that quote, including 21% who Strongly Agree, but 40% disagree, including 29% who Strongly Disagree. Another 17% are not sure.
What about the alternative to Trump’s presidency? Forty-four percent (44%) of voters think America would be better off now if Kamala Harris had won the presidential election last year. Forty-seven percent (47%) disagree.
Perhaps not surprisingly, 75% of Democrats believe the country would be better off now if Harris had won last year’s election, but just 18% of Republicans and 36% of unaffiliated voters share that belief. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Republicans, 16% of Democrats and 49% of unaffiliated voters don’t think America would be better off if Harris had won.
By a 10-point margin – 50% to 40% – men reject the idea that a Harris victory would have been better for the country, while a 47% plurality of women voters think a Harris win would have been better, versus 44% of women who disagree. Significantly more men (48%) than women voters (38%) agree with the statement, “He who saves his country does not violate any law.”
Forty-eight percent (48%) of whites, 46% of black voters, 49% of Hispanics and 45% of other minorities think Trump is acting like a dictator. Hispanics are most likely to agree with the Napoleon quote.
Voters under 40 are less likely than their elders to think Trump is acting like a dictator. Under-40 voters are more likely to agree, “He who saves his country does not violate any law.”
Breaking down the electorate by income categories, voters in the highest bracket – earning more than $200,000 a year – are most likely to say America would be better off now if Kamala Harris had won the presidential election last year. Those with annual incomes below $30,000 are most likely to agree with the quote attributed to Napoleon.
Among those who voted for Trump in last year’s election 63% agree, “He who saves his country does not violate any law,” while only 21% of Harris voters agree with that statement.
The survey also found Trump’s marquee policies remain popular. Voters strongly favor Trump’s plan to apprehend and deport illegal aliens. What’s more, by a double-digit margin, more voters approve than disapprove of Trump’s move to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in the federal government.
2024 Election
MAGA Agenda
James Carville
DOGE
Department of Government Efficiency
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle
Attorney General Pam Bondi
Transgenders in the military
Trump Administration
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
Judge Ana Reyes
LGBTQ agenda