Less than two weeks before the presidential election, a new YouGov survey checked in on how Americans perceive the two presidential candidates. A majority say Donald Trump is more arrogant than Kamala Harris, but he’s also seen as more of a strong leader — 45% say he is more of a strong leader than Harris while 37% say Harris is more of a stronger leader.
The biggest differences in how the two candidates are perceived: 56% think Trump is more arrogant while 23% say Harris is. 50% say Trump is more reckless, while 28% say Harris is. 44% say Trump is more divisive and 23% say Harris is.
45% see Harris as more compassionate than Trump; 31% say the opposite. 44% see her as more likable than Trump. 34% say he is the more likable of the two. 41% see Trump as more charismatic than Harrris and 33% see Harris as the more charismatic one.
Perceptions of both candidates’ traits have stayed relatively steady over the last several months, with a few small exceptions. More Americans say Trump is the more charismatic candidate now (41%) than did in September (35%). More also see him as more likable than Harris now (34%) than did in September (28%).
Among Democrats, 91% say Harris is more compassionate than Trump, 89% say she is more likable, and 89% say she is a better communicator. Among Republicans, 88% say Trump is a stronger leader, 84% say he’s more competent than Harris, and 82% say he’s more qualified.
Around one-third of Americans describe Donald Trump as each of the following: authoritarian (34%), extremist (33%), and fascist (31%). 47% describe him as conservative.
By far the most common descriptor Americans chose for Harris — from a list of 10 political adjectives — is liberal; 60% say she is liberal. About half as many describe Harris as moderate (29%) and socialist (27%); 23% describe her as extremist. 12% call Harris authoritarian and the same share think she is a fascist.
The share of Americans who say Trump is authoritarian has fallen slightly since September, to 34% from 42%.
What do Democrats and Republicans think of the other party's presidential candidate? 65% of Democrats and 2% of Republicans say Trump is extremist; 61% of Democrats and 2% of Republicans say he is a fascist. 57% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans say Harris is liberal. 10% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans say she is a socialist.
— Taylor Orth and Carl Bialik contributed to this article
Related:
- How views of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump changed after their debate
- Harris vs. Trump: How Americans evaluate them on personality and policy
- Harris vs. Trump on the issues: Whose policies do voters prefer?
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology: This YouGov poll was conducted online on October 23 - 25, 2024 among 1,139 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty (Win McNamee / Staff)
