Two weeks before Election Day, as early voting is surging in battleground states, a newly released survey finds that nearly six in 10 Americans (58%) say they believe President Donald Trump is a “potentially dangerous dictator” who could destroy American democracy.
A Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) survey of over 5,000 adults in all 50 states, conducted in partnership with the Brookings Institution, also found that nearly two-thirds (64%) of independents and Hispanic Americans believe “President Trump is a potentially dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy.”
PRRI reported nearly seven in 10 Americans (68%) — including 35% of Republicans — say their opinion of Trump has mostly changed for the worse over the last two years. Twenty-seven percent say their opinion has changed for the better.
Presenting the survey’s results on Tuesday, PRRI president and founder Robert P. Jones explained, “We asked people, ‘Do you think that Trump is a potentially dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy?’”
“That’s clearly a leaning question,” he acknowledged.
“On the other side, ‘Do you think he’s a strong leader, who should be given the power he needs to make America great again?’ So that was the statement on the other side.”
Jones said that in 2025, the response to the question, is Trump a potentially dangerous dictator, came in at 52%. “Today, it is 58% in the general population.”
As part of its 2026 American Values Survey, PRRI found that 37% of Americans agree “President Trump is a strong leader who should be given the power he needs to restore America’s greatness.”
PRRI reported that “Americans have grown more pessimistic about the country’s direction.”
“Over seven in ten Americans say the country (71%) and the economy (76%) are headed in the wrong direction, up from 62% and 65%, respectively, in 2025,” PRRI revealed.
Even Republicans are more pessimistic.
Forty-three percent of Republicans now say the country is on the wrong track, PRRI found, “up from 24% last year, and 52% saying the economy is going in the wrong direction, a dramatic shift from 29% last year.”
PRRI’s survey was conducted August 20 to September 7.
If you like this article, please restack and share with your friends.







And he will do even worse things than he has already. Sociopaths commit & leak wrongs to hide greater wrongs. Starting wars, pillaging nations, supporting genocide, raping kids, Ignoring laws & courts, betraying MAGA, ICE round-ups & assaults, tarriffs, using nuclear weapons…all lead to defenses by followers & distract from greater wrongs. After leaking all these…after sending his envoys to meet Putin with no record of the talks, then withdrawing our troops from Europe & repeating threats against Greenland then the Kennedy Center against court orders. His arch is to be used as an ammo dump for snipers, he said he's deciding about using nukes against Iran to wipe out their whole civilization, allowing the destruction of Los Angeles & San Diego…
WHAT IS THAT GREATER HIDDEN WRONG?
He mustn't finish the bunker.
Only 6 in 10? That's incredible.