Voters who say economic and political systems are stacked against them tie a record high
Nearly 6 in 10 voters say economic and political systems are unfavorable to people like them, tying a roughly 40-year record in national NBC News polling.
According to the latest NBC News survey, 59% of registered voters agree that these systems work against them, while 38% disagree with this sentiment and 3% are unsure. The share of respondents to this idea peaked in April 1992, a record set after NBC News began polling the question in 1988.
An overwhelming majority of voters (84%) agree with the statement that “the very rich and powerful are above the law when they do something wrong, looking out for each other, using their power and connections to get special treatment,” while 14% disagree and 2% agree.
And among those who agree with that statement, two-thirds say the idea that the rich and powerful are above the law has gotten worse over the past five or 10 years, while 29% say it has stayed the same and 4% say it has improved.
Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt said the new poll numbers indicate “historic levels of anger and disgust with our political and economic systems.”
“This is a series of warning signs to the establishment and the country’s leadership that Americans are deeply dissatisfied and looking for change,” said Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the survey with Republican pollster Bill McIntruff of Public Opinion Strategies.
The sentiment that these systems are disadvantageous to the average American has grown in recent years.
The majority of respondents to the NBC News poll have agreed with this sentiment every time this question has been asked since 2012, with the exception of February 2017, when the poll found 43% agreed with this sentiment.
The most recent investigation was conducted from Feb. 27 to March 3, about a month after the Justice Department released millions of pages of documents related to the federal investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Although the poll does not specifically focus on the Epstein files, the controversy surrounding the files has ensnared high-profile public figures, including celebrities, business leaders and politicians like President Donald Trump. Many public figures named in the Epstein files have denied any wrongdoing and have not been charged with a crime. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has repeatedly emphasized that Trump “did nothing wrong” and that the president has not been charged with any crimes related to the Epstein investigation.
The most recent survey found a wider partisan divide than ever before, reflecting an increasingly polarized country.
Two-thirds of independents and a large majority of Democrats (73%) consider that the economic and political systems are unfavorable to them. The share of Democrats feeling this way has increased 26 points since September 2022, a marked change that coincides with Democrats losing control of Congress and the presidency.
On the other hand, as Republicans have taken power and Trump has returned to the White House, fewer Republicans see these systems working against them. The latest poll reveals that 44% of Republicans say these systems are unfavorable to them, a drop of 21 points since September 2022.
The NBC News Poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters from February 27 to March 3 via a combination of telephone interviews and an online survey sent via text message. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
