Pew: 65% of Americans Don’t Trust Media

A national survey by Pew Research Center reveals how distrustful the American public feels about the media; 65 percent say the national news media impacts the country negatively.

Among conservative Republicans and Republican leaners, a whopping 82 percent say the national news media has a negative impact.

Americans simply don’t trust the federal government—only 19 percent believe they can trust the government in Washington to do what is right, with a paltry 3 percent qualifying that statement as “just about always” and 16 percent specifying, “most of the time.”

A twenty-two-point rise has occurred among Americans saying the government needs “very major reform,” from 37 percent in 1997 to 59 percent today. 32 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents feel anger toward the government; only 12 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners agree. 25 percent of whites feel anger at the feds; 17 percent of Hispanics and 12 percent of blacks agree.

Interestingly, Pew omitted the president personally when asking what Americans were angry at, though the survey included Congress. The survey only mentioned Barack Obama when linked with the leftist agenda. Unsurprisingly, among the Republicans angry at government, 64 percent saw Donald Trump favorably; Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, and Marco Rubio also garnered more support from “angry” voters than non-angry voters.

53 percent of respondents want a smaller government with fewer services, while 38 percent desire a bigger government with more services. 87 percent of conservative GOPers prefer a smaller government, 67 percent of liberal Democrats want a bigger government with more services.

89 percent of Republicans distrust the government, and 72 percent of Democrats agree. On average, 13 percent of Republicans have said, during Obama’s tenure, that they can trust the government, the lowest level of average trust among either party during any administration dating back 40 years.

A huge disparity was found that clearly indicates what the Republican Party needs to focus on in 2016: 94 percent of respondents want the federal government to protect them from terror, while only 61 percent of respondents want the federal government to ensure access to health care and 55 percent want it to help people get out of poverty. According to NBC/WSJ polls over the last 15 years, the GOP has been trusted far more on national security than Democrats. The disparity has looked like this:

September 2014 R-54, D-16
February 2013 R-45, D-19
June 2006 R-42, D-18
November 2005 R-43, D-22
January 2004 R-53, D-16
December 13, 2003 R-54, D-18
June 2002 R-50, D-11
June 2001 R-55, D- 14
December 1999 R- 46, D-18

Considering that the American public traditionally trusts the GOP mire on defense and security issues, the party would do well to focus on guns, not butter.