Majority of respondents in Rasmussen Poll view Media as ‘Enemy of the People’

Recent comments by former President Donald Trump regarding the auto industry have sparked controversy, with 60% of voters believing that the news media are “the enemy of the people,” according to a Rasmussen poll.

The survey revealed that 30% strongly agree with Trump’s statement that the media are “the enemy of the people,” while 36% disagreed with the assessment, including 21% who strongly disagreed.

Compared to last year, the percentage of respondents who view the media as the “enemy of the people” has increased from 59% to 60%, according to Rasmussen.

At a recent rally in Dayton, Ohio, Trump’s comments on Chinese competition disrupting the auto industry, with his statement that “If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be … a bloodbath for the country,” resulted in misleading headlines in several news reports.

The poll showed that 49% of voters believe Trump was referring to auto workers losing their jobs with his “bloodbath” warning, while 40% thought he was alluding to potential political violence if he did not win the election in November. 11% were unsure of his intentions.

A majority of Republicans and independents believe Trump’s “bloodbath” comment was related to auto workers losing their jobs, while most Democrats interpreted it as a threat of political violence.

Furthermore, a large percentage of respondents believe that the media’s political coverage is shaped by talking points from the Biden campaign, with varying opinions based on political affiliation and race.

Overall, the survey found that Republicans are more likely to view the media as the “enemy of the people” and believe that coverage is influenced by the Biden campaign, while Democrats are less likely to hold these beliefs.

Younger voters and black voters had different perspectives on Trump’s “bloodbath” comment, with the former being less likely to connect it to auto workers losing their jobs and the latter more likely to see it as a threat of political violence.

The poll, conducted from March 18-20, surveyed 1,114 likely U.S. voters with a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Nicole Wells ✉ Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.