Voters don't actually want what Trump's selling: analysis

Donald Trump and his allies are claiming that voters gave him a broad mandate for a second term as president, but surveys shows they don't actually like his campaign promises.

Two massive polls, the network exit poll and the VoteCast survey, show that Trump won because voters wanted a change from the status quo and had positive memories of his first presidency, but they actually oppose what Republicans have proposed doing in his second term, reported The Bulwark.

"Seventy percent of voters believed the country was heading in the wrong direction," wrote columnist Will Saletan. "Among that 70 percent, two-thirds voted for Trump."

"Forty percent of voters said Kamala Harris had been 'tested and delivered negative results' compared to only 35 percent who said she had been 'tested and delivered positive results,'" he added. "For Trump, the balance was reversed: 49 percent said he had delivered positive results compared to 45 percent who said he had delivered negative results."

However, the polls also show that voters reject nearly all of Trump's policy proposals, from mass deportations to tariffs to reproductive rights.

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"When VoteCast asked about 'increasing taxes on goods imported to the U.S. from other countries,' voters split almost evenly: 49 percent in favor, 50 percent against," Saletan wrote. "Polls taken since the election suggest that the political balance might tip slightly in Trump’s favor when the word 'tariffs' is used instead of 'taxes,' but the balance tips against Trump when the tariffs are substantial. In general, the numbers indicate that if the public feels the cost of tariffs, sentiment will turn against them."

More than 60 percent of voters believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 53 percent of respondents in the VoteCast survey opposed the GOP's proposed 15-week ban, and the same survey showed 57 percent of voters wanted the government to be even more involved in “ensuring that Americans have healthcare coverage.”

"If Republicans try to roll back Obamacare, they’re in for trouble," Saletan wrote. "Trump and his party will also face blowback if their proposed secretary of health and human services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., messes with vaccines. In the VoteCast survey, only 22 percent of voters said they wanted the government to be less involved in 'ensuring that children are vaccinated for childhood diseases.' Fifty percent said they wanted the government to do more, and another 26 percent favored the government’s current level of involvement."

The exit poll showed 54 percent of voters believe Trump's views are too extreme, and nearly 60 percent are at least somewhat concerned about that, and the VoteCast survey showed 45 percent of voters were very concerned he would bring the U.S. closer to authoritarianism, while another 10 percent were at least somewhat concerned.

"That’s a 55 percent majority — less than it should be, given his autocratic threats and behavior, but a decent base to start with as we prepare to defend the Constitution," Saletan wrote.

"No serious person disputes that Trump won the election," Saletan added. "He got the Electoral College and a plurality of the popular vote. But that doesn’t mean most people who cast ballots in this election were giving him a mandate to pursue his party's agenda. According to the only surveys that polled them, they weren’t."