Inquired about the election from 10-year-olds, yielding these insights.
When a youngster is asked for a single term to describe the former President Donald Trump and replies with "absolute malice," it hints at a degree of separation that might astonish the typical American.
Researchers from CNN discovered that Democrat-supporting children fueled polarization in a recent study, and these children were more inclined to state that they wouldn't associate with someone who backing Trump. On the contrary, children living in red states were more likely to disseminate false information.
The findings are based on over 40 hours of discussions initiated by CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” with 80 elementary school students from Arizona, a 2024 battleground state; New Jersey, a blue state; and Texas, a red state. With the agreement of their parents, the researchers gathered the children's unfiltered opinions regarding presidential candidates and elections.
CNN is refraining from identifying the students or the schools involved, and this is not a representative survey of public opinion, but rather a set of interviews aimed at measuring children's polarization levels.
For this assignment, Asheley Landrum, an assistant professor, child development specialist, and media psychologist at Arizona State University, collaborated with Stanford University political science professor Shanto Iyengar. Landrum posed a series of questions to the elementary schoolers, employing photographs and visual cues, to comprehend their feelings towards the political system.
The questions focused on the presidential candidates, including prompts asking which one would ensure their safety, which was more truthful, and which was more likely to engage in misconduct.
The discussions were first conducted in the spring, during which President Joe Biden was campaigning for reelection and the children were in the fourth grade. The majority of the same children participated in follow-up discussions in the fall, after Vice President Kamala Harris had become the Democratic nominee and the children had transitioned into fifth grade.
The majority of the children participating in the fall discussions, approximately two-thirds, supported Harris. There was a roughly equal split in Texas, signifying a significant improvement in support for Democrats in the red state compared to when Biden was the contender. Nationwide polls of likely voters suggest a tightly contested contest for the White House, with a lead for Trump in Texas.
Democrat-aligned children drove polarization
According to an analysis conducted by Landrum in September, when children were asked to rate Harris or Trump on a five-point scale, Democrat-leaning and blue-state children were more likely to express strong affinity for Harris and strong disdain for Trump. Conversely, Republican-leaning and red-state children appreciated Trump but were neutral or even supportive of Harris.
When Landrum asked for a single word to describe a candidate, the results for Trump ranged from appreciative – such as from one child in May: "Long live America!" – to extremely negative. Criticisms of Harris were also present. "Deceiver" was one child's single word to describe her.
In May, three Biden-supporting children spontaneously brought up Hitler when discussing Donald Trump, as per Landrum’s analysis.
More unfavorable feelings towards Trump among Democrat-aligned children
In May, when the contest was between Biden and Trump, children were asked to choose an emoji representing their emotions towards a candidate. Only a quarter of the Trump-supporting children chose an emoji expressing that Biden made them feel anxious or apprehensive, but more than half of the Biden-supporting children chose this emoji when asked about Trump. This disparity increased when the interviews were repeated in September and the children were asked about Trump and Harris.
Iyengar was astonished by this overall finding of the study.
“Among adults, the typical outcome is that Republicans hold stronger antipathy towards Democrats than the other way around,” he said. “It suggests something about the candidates in this race, i.e., Kamala Harris remains relatively unknown to many and, therefore, individuals do not have strong, either positive or negative, feelings towards her.
Trump, on the other hand, ‘is a trigger’,” Iyengar said, and blue-state children “have been influenced by the narrative their parents are conveying, and they display considerable hostility towards him.”
There were also numerous positive responses, such as the girl who selected the happy emoji for Biden because he supports women's rights and stated, “And I’m a woman.”
Trump-supporting children acknowledged the former president's flaws with some intriguing justifications. One boy argued that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both slave owners, “a major transgression, but they still served two terms each.”
“Therefore, even though Trump has engaged in misdeeds, he still deserves to run for president,” the boy asserted.
The same boy, in September, also acknowledged the difficulty of choosing between Harris and Trump when shown their photos and was asked which candidate was more inclined to commit misconduct.
“Convicted felon against a liar,” he said. “Which one do I choose?” Ultimately, he determined that the "convicted felon" was more likely to engage in misconduct, but it was acceptable for a criminal to serve as president.
The majority of children surveyed, over 80% across both red and blue states, believe the country is prepared for a woman of color to become president.
"I'd prefer a Black woman as president for the first time, but I'm still leaning towards Trump," stated one girl.
Would you visit a Trump or Harris supporter's house?
During both May and September, Landrum showed children photos of two houses - one displayed a Trump sign and the other featured a Biden or Harris sign. She questioned them on whether they or their parents would feel comfortable visiting. Most children were open to visiting houses associated with either political party. However, Landrum noted that a third of Democrat-leaning children in September were hesitant about visiting homes of kids whose families support Trump. In contrast, few Trump-supporting children expressed reluctance in visiting Democrat-backing homes.
One May interviewee from a Biden-supporting family hypothesized that an argument may ensue if they visited a Trump house, perhaps resulting in a "food fight" or similar incident.
Another boy compared politics to food preferences, suggesting that friends can still enjoy each other's company despite favoring different cuisines. "'Cause I like pizza, and they like burgers, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends," he said.
A girl echoed this sentiment using a different analogy: "I like Taylor Swift, and they like Olivia Rodrigo, but we're still friends."
The Taylor Swift factor
Landrum inquired in September if Swift's endorsement of Harris would influence the election, and nearly all New Jersey children agreed it would, whereas less than half of Texas children concurred.
"Swift's fans will follow her lead," argued a boy.
However, when Landrum analyzed the responses by gender, she discovered that more than 90% of male participants believed Swift's endorsement would sway the election, while less than two-thirds of females held this view.
Biden's age and fitness concerns
Eventually, concerns about Biden's age and capabilities led him to exit the presidential race. During the May interviews, many children did not cite age as a reason to oppose either candidate. Approximately one-third mentioned age in a different context, with most suggesting that age could be a disadvantage.
A boy in Texas was convinced Biden had dementia.
"He probably won't admit it, but he's forgetting a lot of things," said the boy in May.
Trump supporters did not view his legal issues as reasons to abandon their support. Most of those who brought up Trump's legal problems were from the blue state, although the May interviews took place shortly after his conviction in a New York courtroom for falsifying business records. The Arizona and Texas interviews occurred earlier.
"I wouldn't want someone who's committed crimes to be my president - I wouldn't feel safe," said a girl from New Jersey.
More than half of the children, however, seemed unaware of the reasons behind Trump's legal problems, whether in the New York case or in the other instances where he is accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election and mishandling classified documents.
Plenty of misinformation
Children often repeated misinformation about the candidates, according to Landrum, with most falsehoods directed at Trump. However, she found that a greater number of children from red states shared misinformation. In September, Landrum asked children where they had learned specific misinformation, and parents/family were a common source.
One misleading claim aimed at Trump is that he donates most of his wealth to the U.S. military, which is untrue.
A blue-state child was disappointed that Trump has supported individuals who spread misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines, including the false claim that vaccines can cause metal to stick to a person's body. No evidence supports this claim, and there is no evidence that Trump supported such an individual.
Another girl claimed she had heard that "some people say Harris believes in another God," although Harris is Baptist, and her husband is Jewish.
Researchers found that both blue-state and red-state children most often rely on their parents/family and TV news for information, but red-state children also heavily rely on YouTube and TikTok.
More red-state children have smartphones, while more blue-state children have tablets.
Misinformation can come from any source, as demonstrated by a kid in his description of the presidential debate between Trump and Harris.
"Probably the most expensive thing Trump said was, 'The illegal immigrants are coming to eat our pets,'" he said, repeating a false statement made by Trump about Haitian immigrants.
In the study, Democrat-aligned children were more likely to express strong affinity for Harris and strong disdain for Trump, as reported by Landrum. This pattern was not observed among Republican-leaning children from red states.
Furthermore, when Landrum asked children to choose an emoji representing their emotions towards a candidate, more than half of the Biden-supporting children chose an emoji expressing anxiety or apprehension when asked about Trump, while only a quarter of the Trump-supporting children felt this way about Biden.
