Poll: Trump Seen as “Too Extreme” by Most Swing State Voters

A new poll shows that a majority of voters in swing states across the U.S. view Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as “too extreme” to serve in the White House.

The CNN/SSRS poll that was published last week examined likely voters’ attitudes in six states that are considered up for grabs in this year’s presidential election — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In one question in the poll, voters were asked whether they view Trump and the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, as “too extreme” or “generally mainstream.”

In all but one of those states, a majority of voters described Trump as extreme — and in the one state that was the exception, Arizona, voters were split 50 percent versus 50 percent over which identifier they associated Trump with.

In Georgia and Wisconsin, 55 percent viewed Trump as too extreme, and in Michigan, 56 percent felt as much. Fifty-four percent of Pennsylvania’s voters felt Trump is too extreme, while 53 percent felt that way in Nevada.

Conversely, a majority of voters in all six of the states surveyed viewed Harris as a mainstream candidate — 54 percent felt that way in Arizona and Nevada; 56 percent in Georgia; 51 percent in Pennsylvania; 57 percent in Wisconsin; and 58 percent in Michigan.

A large portion of voters, 47 percent on average across the six states, said they agreed with the statement that Trump is a threat to the future of the country, while only 38 percent said the same of Harris.

The poll also asked which candidate likely voters in these swing states preferred to win the presidential election. Harris led Trump in Wisconsin by 6 points, in Michigan by 5 points, and in Georgia and Nevada by just 1 point, according to the poll. In Arizona, Trump was ahead of Harris by 5 points, and in Pennsylvania, the two candidates were tied.

Trump’s extremism has been consistent throughout all three of his runs for president as the Republican nominee. Examples of this extremism include:

• Regularly spewing racist and fascist rhetoric regarding immigrants, including falsely alleging that most immigrants are criminals and rapists, and accusing immigrants of “poisoning the blood of the country”;
• Promising to pardon his loyalists who attacked the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021;
• Alluding to destroying democracy in the U.S., telling his supporters that they won’t “have to vote again” if he wins the presidential election later this year;
• Suggesting that he would further restrict reproductive rights and access to abortion if he’s elected again, and claiming in the past that a person should be “punished” for obtaining the procedure;
• Supporting several proposals outlined in Project 2025 (despite publicly trying to distance himself from the far right document), including dismantling the civil service program, abolishing the Department of Education, rescinding LGBTQ rights, and more;
• Attacking the media and press freedom in general, frequently deriding members of the press as “enemies” of the United States and discounting violence against them;
• Calling for the “termination” of the U.S. Constitution, two years after his election loss to Biden, so that he could illegally be reinstated as president;
• And vowing to be a dictator on his first day as president should he win the election against Harris.

The CNN/SSRS poll suggests that Trump’s extremist views will lower his chances of winning the race. If highlighted during the debate between Harris and Trump, which is scheduled for Tuesday evening, those views could play an even larger role in the campaign than they already have in the weeks to come.