Friday Findings: New Polling on Political Influencers
How do Democrats think about Hasan Piker? How do Republicans think about Tucker Carlson? We investigate.
Happy Friday Findings! Today we’re going to look at some fresh data in our new April voter omnibus on online political influencers.
1. How voters think about online political influencers
We polled several political influencers this month to see how favorably voters reacted. Ben Shapiro topped the list, with a net favorability of -3, followed closely by Governor (and podcaster) Gavin Newsom. One stands out in lower name recognition; 6 in 10 voters told us they had never heard of Hasan Piker.
2. How Democratic voters say they want to handle Hasan Piker
We asked all Democrats for their thoughts on Hasan Piker after an introduction to some of his most controversial views. Just over half said he should be explicitly opposed by party leaders. About a third said he can help fight MAGA or outright agree with Piker’s views. This group is distinctly younger, non-white, and urban. Interestingly, Democrats who indicated they have heard of Hasan Piker agree with him or think he can help fight MAGA by a plurality of 47%.
3. How Republican voters think about right-wing online influencers
That’s enough about Democrats, how do Republicans think about influencers on the right? We asked voters about four major names. Ben Shapiro and Megyn Kelly lead the pack in net favorability, while Tucker Carlson breaks even. Carlson holds the highest name recognition and unfavorable ratings among Republicans. Meanwhile, Candace Owens has the lowest net favorability among Republicans (-4), with almost a quarter never having heard of her.
4. Breaking down the views by different types of Republicans
Let’s go deeper; how do Republican voters feel about these right-wing influencers depending on their demographics? Ben Shapiro is seen most favorably by Republicans with a college degree. Megyn Kelly has the tightest spread; all kinds of Republicans view her favorably on net just like Shapiro, but with less of an education divide.
Where things get interesting is Republican views of Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens. Carlson is viewed unfavorably on the net by older and women GOP voters. These same net unfavorables deepen for Candace Owens. But both Carlson and Owens have an edge; younger Republican voters view them a lot more favorably.
5. The Republican division over Tucker Carlson
Most Republicans know who Tucker Carlson is, and they have many different opinions of him. Younger and male Republicans are the most favorable, while Trump-first voters split in half. The same is true of very conservative Republicans, who also split in half. He is a very controversial figure within the Republican party right now, and largely viewed unfavorably outside of it.
One last note: In a survey for The Washington Free Beacon last fall, we found conservatives or Trump voters under 35 viewed Tucker favorably by 51-10. We looked at this same cohort in our latest omnibus, albeit with the small size (n=78) in mind. The same group now views him favorably by 54-32. Among right-wing young adults, unfavorable views of Tucker are rising.