A new Economist/YouGov poll reveals a striking gap between Trump’s self-image and how American voters describe him, with perceptions of his character adding another dimension to the debate ahead of November’s midterms.
What word would you use to describe Donald Trump? We know he would reach for genius, high IQ and assorted other immodest claims.
Most of us might opt for demented, dangerous or proto-fascist.
Sadly for him, the US public has a different view of him than he has of himself.
The Economist/YouGov poll (11–14 September 2026) asked 1,461 registered voters what word they would use to describe Trump.
The survey divided responses into the share who say the word describes Trump; the share who say it does not describe Trump; and the share who have no opinion.
The word most frequently selected was ‘corrupt’, with 53 per cent of respondents nominating that word to describe him. Only 23 per cent said ‘corrupt’ didn’t describe Trump, while 23 per cent had no opinion.
The next was ‘dangerous’, with 51 per cent nominating that to describe Trump, 23 per cent saying it didn’t and 23 per cent having no opinion.
‘Out of touch’ was nominated by 47 per cent, 22 per cent said it didn’t apply and 32 per cent had no opinion. ‘Cruel’ had 46 per cent nominating the word as describing Trump, 25 per cent thought it didn’t and 29 per cent had no opinion.
Forty-five per cent said he was bold, 16 per cent didn’t think it applied and 39 per cent had no opinion. Forty-five per cent agreed he was racist, with 29 per cent thinking he wasn’t. Twenty-six per cent had no opinion. Forty-two per cent thought ‘divisive’ described him, 14 per cent didn’t and 44 per cent had no opinion.
What would have been galling for Trump was that only 37 per cent thought he was strong, 35 per cent intelligent and 33 per cent effective, and a mere 23 per cent thought he was honest. Who said the average punter isn’t well-informed?
Only 19 per cent thought he was inspiring and 40 per cent didn’t.
Amazingly, 49 per cent had no opinion on whether he was steady or not.
Meanwhile, the incomparable G. Elliott Morris has been investigating how self-reported votes can be misleading because people can misremember or change their reported vote. For instance, disaffected Trump voters are the ones now declining to admit they voted for him.
Morris also said: “A YouGov/Economist named-candidate polling using actual candidates’ names in each district showed Democrats up 11 per cent among likely voters versus 8 points on CBS’s standard generic ballot question.”
Morris also reported that a 50+1 forecast now gives Democrats a 97 per cent chance of winning the House and 65 per cent chance in the Senate, where polls have moved towards Democrats in the most competitive states.
Noel Turnbull has had a 50-year-plus career in public relations, politics, journalism and academia. He blogs at http://noelturnbull.com/blog/