Majority Think Tariffs Will Hurt US Economy
Majority oppose Biden’s Pardon of Hunter & Trump’s Potential Pardon to Jan. 6 Rioters
A new Emerson College Polling national survey finds about 1 in 5 (19%) voters have invested in, traded, or used cryptocurrency, while 81% have not. Among voters who have, 61% have not used crypto to make any purchases, while 39% have.
“Crypto users are younger and have a larger minority base, highlighting crypto as a growing, diverse constituency for political support: 57% of crypto users have a favorable view of Donald Trump,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Nearly 1 in 3 voters under 40 have used crypto, declining with age, 28% of voters in their 40s, 17% in their 50s, 9% in their 60s and just 4% over 70 are crypto users.”
- Men are twice as likely to use crypto than women: 26% of men use crypto compared to 13% of women.
- Crypto users are also more likely to be minority racial groups: about a third of voters who are Asian, Hispanic, or Black are involved in cryptocurrency, compared to 14% of white voters.
Tariff Policy
Regarding the US issuing additional tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, a majority or plurality of voters think such tariffs will hurt the US economy: 51% think additional tariffs on Canada will hurt the US economy, 50% say the same of tariffs on Mexico, and 49% think additional tariffs on China will hurt the US economy. Thirty-nine percent think tariffs on China will help the US economy, 36% think tariffs on Mexico will help the US economy, and 32% think tariffs on Canada will help the US economy.
“Voter attitudes on tariffs are sharply divided by 2024 vote preferences,” Kimball said. “Among Trump voters, 69% believe tariffs on China will help the economy, while 17% disagree. In contrast, 79% of Harris voters think China tariffs will hurt the economy, with 13% seeing them as beneficial.”
Biden Approval & Pardons
President Joe Biden holds a 36% job approval rating and a 54% disapproval. His approval reflects his November numbers, while his disapproval increased by two percent. President-elect Trump held steady over the last month with a 51% favorable rating, while 45% have an unfavorable view of Trump.
Voters were asked if they supported or opposed President Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter. A majority (52%) oppose, 28% support the decision, and 19% are unsure. Voters were also asked if they would support President-elect Trump’s issuing of pardons to people involved in the events of January 6; 50% oppose, 34% support, and 16% are neutral.
Healthcare CEO Assassination
A majority of voters (68%) think the actions of the killer of the United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, are unacceptable. Seventeen percent find the actions acceptable, while 16% are unsure.
“While 68% of voters overall reject the killer’s actions, younger voters and Democrats are more split — 41% of voters aged 18-29 find the killer’s actions acceptable (24% somewhat acceptable and 17% completely acceptable), while 40% find them unacceptable; 22% of Democrats find them acceptable, while 59% find them unacceptable, this compares to 12% of Republicans and 16% of independents who find the actions acceptable, underscoring shifting societal attitudes among the youngest electorate and within party lines,” Kimball said.
Men were slightly more inclined to find the actions acceptable compared to women: 19% said the actions were acceptable compared to 14% of women.
TikTok Ban
A plurality of US voters, 40%, support the ban on TikTok, starting January 19, 30% oppose the ban, and 30% are unsure.
“Half of voters under 30 oppose the TikTok ban, while 34% support it,” Kimball said. “Support for the ban generally increases with age, at its highest among voters in their 60s, at 46%.”
Early 2028 Candidate Name Recognition
Voters were asked if they have a favorable or unfavorable view of multiple public figures previously mentioned in the Emerson November national poll. Mark Cuban (35% favorable, 10% never heard of), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (29% favorable, 14% never heard of), and Pete Buttigieg (34% favorable, 15% never heard of) have the highest name recognition of the potential candidates among voters.
Among Democratic voters, Pete Buttigieg (57% favorable), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (54%), Gavin Newsom (50%), Gretchen Whitmer (46%), and Mark Cuban (44%) are the most favorable potential candidates.
“Notably, despite Cuban ranking fifth in favorability among Democrats, he leads in favorability with independents at 33%,” Kimball said. “Meanwhile, AOC emerges as the most polarizing figure, with strong support from Democrats but equally strong unfavorability from Republicans.”
Vice President-elect JD Vance holds a split favorable rating: 41% have a favorable view of the future VP, while 41% have an unfavorable view of him. Future Department of Government Efficiency co-head Elon Musk similarly has a split favorability among voters: 43% have a favorable view of Musk, while 43% have an unfavorable view of him.
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling national survey was conducted December 11-13, 2024. The sample of registered voters, n=1,000, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 3 percentage points. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party registration, and region.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
Data was collected by contacting cell phones via MMS-to-web text, landlines via interactive voice response and email (phone list provided by Aristotle, email lists provided by Commonwealth Opinions), and an online panel of voters pre-matched to the L2 voter file provided by Rep Data. The survey was offered in English.
All questions asked in this survey with the exact wording, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found under Full Results. This survey was funded by Emerson College.
