Low Marks for Major Players in 2016 Election – Including the Winner

When voters are asked to grade the candidates, parties and press on how they conducted themselves during the presidential campaign, they award the lowest grades for nearly all involved since the quadrennial post-election surveys began in 1988. A 57% majority of voters say news organizations had too much influence on the outcome of 2016’s presidential election, while 13% say the press had too little influence and 27% say the press had the right amount of influence.

The share saying news organizations had too much influence on the outcome of the presidential election is the highest it has been since 2000, while the share of those saying the press had about the right amount of influence is the lowest in Pew Research Center polling going back to 1992. About four-in-ten voters (39%) say the press was too tough in the way it covered Donald Trump’s campaign, while 32% say it was fair and 27% say it was too easy. Overall, voters were more likely to say the press was too easy on Hillary Clinton: 45% say this, while 21% say it was too tough on her and 33% say it was fair. That the press is viewed by voters as having been easier on Clinton and harder on Trump is largely the result of higher levels of press criticism among Trump voters than Clinton voters: About three-quarters of Trump voters say both that the press was too tough on him (74%) and too easy on her (78%). By contrast, Clinton voters are roughly as likely to say the press treated Trump fairly as they are to say it was too easy on him (49% vs. 44%). And while 37% of Clinton voters say the press was too tough on their candidate, half (50%) say she was treated fairly.