The core elements of democratic government, including free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power, were put to a dire test by the baseless claims of election fraud advanced by former President Donald Trump. Those assertions of fraud were a root cause of the deadly violence at the U.S. Capitol last month, which damaged the country’s reputation as a model for democracy.
A majority of Americans say Biden respects democratic institutions
A new AP-NORC poll finds 7 in 10 Americans say President Biden respects democratic institutions and traditions at least a fair amount, while only about 4 in 10 say the same about Donald Trump.How much respect do you think ___ has for this country’s democratic institutions and traditions?
Those are still much higher marks than Trump earned: 62% say the former president has little or no respect for democratic traditions or institutions. That view is held by 93% of Democrats and, notably, 27% of Republicans.
Linda Reynolds, a 64-year-old retired paper sales representative in Torrance, California, was a lifelong Republican until Trump captured the party’s presidential nomination in 2016. With Biden in the White House, she’s feeling better about whether the U.S. will again embrace democracy.
“We obviously have a lot of problems,” she said. “But in the big picture, reason seems to have prevailed, hopefully in the eyes of the world.”