In the final weeks of the 2024 US election campaign, much of the most discussed news about former President Donald Trump revolved around fascism and French fries, according to The Breakthrough, a research project by CNN that tracks what Americans actually hear, read and see about presidential nominees. Talk about Vice President Kamala Harris, on the other hand, continued to focus on more conventional stories from the campaign.
The research, conducted by SSRS and Verasight on behalf of the research team at CNN from Georgetown University and the University of Michigan, was held from October 25th to 28th. It was largely completed before Trump’s rally last week at Madison Square Garden, which drew attention for racist jokes about Puerto Rico, Latinos and black people made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at the rally’s opening.
But the survey showed that the public paid attention to the event in which Trump served French fries at McDonald’s and another allegedly praising Hitler’s generals — as well as making explicit comments about a Hall of Fame golfer.
“He talked about Arnold Palmer’s penis size and worked at a McDonalds for a few hours,” wrote one survey responder.
Another interviewee wrote that “when it comes to Donald Trump, you cannot ignore him or his ideas.”
Within the whirlwind of news surrounding Trump, the stories that stood out to Americans often fell along partisan lines. Republicans were more likely than Democrats to mention the McDonald’s event, as well as Trump’s interview with podcast host Joe Rogan.
“Several former Trump administration officials (2016 – 2020) say Trump will dismantle democracy if elected,” wrote one Democratic-leaning respondent. “Trump has been criticized by moderate Republicans for saying he wants military generals ‘like Hitler had.’”
Responses along these lines contributed to making “democracy” the second most common topic used in discussions about Trump in the latest data set, behind only the broad “campaign” category. Approximately 11% of those who heard something about Trump in recent days referenced words related to democracy.
What Americans Heard From Kamala Harris
When the survey asked respondents what they heard about Kamala, the words “campaign”, “rally”, “interview”, “polls” and “announcement” ranked among the top 10 responses. The same happened with references to his tax proposals. And the survey found an increase in mentions of the topic of abortion in relation to Kamala, with several respondents noting what the candidate said about reproductive rights during a rally in Houston where she appeared with Beyoncé.
Overall, 74% of Americans reported having heard something recently about Kamala and a similar 71% about Trump — still slightly lower than those who reported hearing about the candidates at this point during the last two presidential election cycles.
Overall, the sentiment behind the words Americans used to describe what they heard about Trump and Kamala has remained more negative than positive, with sentiment around Kamala falling since the early days of her campaign. Sentiment that does not refer directly to the candidates, but about how positively or negatively the terms and tones used to describe them tend to be framed.
CNN Brasil will have super live coverage
CNN Brasil will provide super coverage of the dispute between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump for the White House in the American elections, which take place on Tuesday, November 5th.
In direct connection with the American headquarters of CNN coverage will begin two days in advance, starting on the 3rd, in the special “América Decide” program.
On election day, the matter will take up 24 hours of the day of the election. CNN Brazil through super coverage in daily newspapers, relying especially on the grandiose structure of the headquarters and high-speed simultaneous translation.
This content was originally published in Analysis: Americans hear about fascism and Trump’s French fries in the final stretch on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
