June 2020 Harvard Harris Poll - Analysis by Mark Penn

Harvard Harris Poll Debrief with Mark Penn and Bob Cusack

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The June Harvard CAPS / Harris Poll, conducted among 1,886 registered voters between June 17-18, 2020, provides perspective on a tumultuous few weeks of national protests, calls for police reforms, and uncertainty about the coronavirus and economic reopening.
Our poll shows tremendous amount of support for both Black Lives Matter and peaceful protests as well as the police. Police in America are viewed favorably by 60% and Black Lives Matters by 55% of voters.
Majorities of voters recognize police misconduct in cases like the death of George Floyd (56%) and the possibility of systemic racism in American police (53%) and call for reforms. Voters are split between the need major reforms and restructurings of how police work (47%) and minor reforms and improved training (46%) – but they agree some kind of action is needed, with overwhelming majorities supporting mandatory body cameras, banning choke holds and a registry of bad cops.
Voters are also squarely against defunding the police (72%) and two-thirds of voters believe that most police operate fairly and according to the rules.
And while over two thirds of voters thought peaceful protests were an appropriate response to police fatalities, on the issue of riots and looting 47% of voters believed cites were too soft in their response compared to 23% who indicated they were too harsh.
In terms of the social response to the protest, voters remain balanced:

• 57% oppose the New York Times decision to backtrack on the Tom Cotton editorial, and 6 in 10 voters believe major publications and tech platform censor conservative views
• 69% of voters do not believe that news editors or CEOs should lose their jobs if they criticize Black Lives Matters, at the same time as 6 in 10 support corporations to donating millions of dollars to the BLM movement.
• 77% say it was wrong for HBO to remove Gone with The Wind; 65% say it’s wrong for major networks to remove shows about police; 58% think confederate statues should remain and 71% want local governments to block groups from physically removing or damaging these statues.

Despite majority support for utilizing the national guard, President Trump’s approval declined by 4 points for the second month in a row; he’s now at 43 percent. He receives low marks in the low 40s for his handling of the coronavirus (44%), issues of race and policing (43%), and responding to civil disorder (42%)
Joe Biden did very well communicating he could bring the country together compared to President Trump which is reflected in candidate views in our poll and the 10 point spread we see among Likely Voters in the 2020 horserace (Trump 44% vs. Biden 56%).
Finally, the coronavirus remains the biggest issue facing Americans today. Today, 61% think infections are growing faster (up from 49% in May), 64% think we are opening up too soon, and 74% think there will be a second wave in the fall.

You can follow my podcast on the poll at SoundCloud (full episode) or any of the following channels: @iHeartRadio, @ApplePodcasts, @Spotify, @Stitcher,

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