AP: democracy at stake – Americans on the importance of the upcoming election

Nearly three-quarters of Americans believe that democracy will be at stake in the November US presidential election, the Associated Press reports, citing a poll. At the same time, opinions on who poses the greatest threat to democracy Trump or Biden’s team, which includes Kamala Harris, vary depending on voters’ political preferences.

About 3 in 4 American adults believe the upcoming presidential election is vital to the future of American democracy, although which candidate they believe poses the greatest threat depends on voters’ political leanings, the Associated Press reported, citing data from a poll conducted by the news agency in conjunction with the Centre for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago

The majority of Democrats, Republicans and independent voters consider the upcoming elections “very important” or “extremely important” for democracy, with Democrats expressing this opinion more actively than others. Thus, more than half of Democrats called the upcoming vote “extremely important” for the future of American democracy, while among independent voters and Republicans this opinion was expressed by 4 out of 10 respondents.

The results of this poll indicate that many Democrats continue to see Trump as a threat to democracy because of his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, because of his support for the rioters who attacked the Capitol on 6 January 2021, and because of his promises to retaliate against his opponents if he wins the election.

That said, many of Trump’s supporters agree with him that the real threat to democracy is Biden. In particular, Trump and his allies accuse the head of the White House of using the US Justice Department as a weapon against the former American leader.