November 9, 2024 - Washington, D.C. – The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll examines Americans’ reactions to Donald Trump winning the presidential election. The survey shows that Americans overwhelmingly accept the election results, with a majority of registered voters saying it was a legitimate and accurate election. The data also indicates a renewed trust in elections among Republicans. Americans are experiencing mixed emotions around the election results and have different perspectives on how the Trump administration will act. During the first 100 days of the new administration, a plurality of Americans would like Trump to prioritize immigration.
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Detailed Findings:
The majority of registered voters (75%) say the 2024 election was legitimate and accurate while 21% say they don’t know and 4% say it was the result of election rigging or illegal voting. For comparison, in November 2020, 58% of registered voters viewed the 2020 election as legitimate and accurate, 30% viewed it as the result of illegal voting or election rigging, and 13% did not know. The positive shift from 2020 to 2024 is driven entirely by Republican registered voters. In 2020, just 26% of Republican registered voters said the election was legitimate and accurate, compared to 91% now – a 65-point increase. In 2020, 88% of Democratic registered voters said the election was legitimate and accurate, and, despite being the losing party, 63% still view the 2024 election results as legitimate and accurate.
About a quarter of Americans (27%) say they feel worried about the election outcome; meanwhile, 15% say they feel hopeful, 12% say they feel relieved, 11% say they feel happy, and 12% say they feel indifferent. By party affiliation, more than half of Democratic registered voters say they are worried (51%) about the election outcome, and about one in six say they are sad (18%) or angry (16%). Republican registered voters are more likely to report feeling positive emotions about the outcome of the election: about three in ten say they are happy (31%), hopeful (29%), or relieved (28%).
Looking ahead to the next administration, a quarter of Americans want Trump to prioritize immigration in his first 100 days in office. Eighty-two percent of Americans think it is likely that Trump will order the mass deportation of people in the country illegally during his term. Among Americans who believe it is likely that Trump will order mass deportation, half say they are not concerned about it (51%) and the other half say they are concerned about it (49%). A bare majority of Americans (51%) say that illegal immigrants should not be arrested and put in detention camps while awaiting deportation hearings, but 33% say they should. Just 15% of Americans say they do not know. Among registered voters, Democrats (80%) and independents (59%) are most likely to disagree with arresting and putting illegal immigrants in detention camps prior to deportation hearings. Only 30% of Republican registered voters say the same.
About the Study
This Ipsos poll was conducted November 6-7, 2024 on behalf of Reuters using the KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a representative sample of 1,422 U.S. residents, age 18 or older.
The study was conducted in English. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race and ethnicity, census region, metropolitan status, education, household income, party ID, and 2024 presidential vote. Party ID benchmarks are from the 2024 NPORS annual survey. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2024 March supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS). The 2024 presidential vote benchmarks came from estimations of final vote share based on vote totals as of November 7, 2024.
- Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
- Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
- Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor degree, Master’s degree or above)
- Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
- Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
- Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
- Party ID (Democrat, Lean Democrat, Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Something else)
- Vote Choice 2020 (Biden, Trump, Other/Did not vote/DK)
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.45 for all adults. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.
About Ipsos
Ipsos is one of the largest market research and polling companies globally, operating in 90 markets and employing over 18,000 people.
Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. We serve more than 5000 clients across the world with 75 business solutions.
Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1st, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and the Mid-60 index and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).
Source: Ipsos
