Residents of both countries are less critical when assessing people who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Vancouver, BC [December 4, 2024] – A significant proportion of Canadians and Americans hold a particularly negative view of followers of Donald Trump and the Republican Party, a new two-country Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of representative national samples, respondents in Canada and the United States were asked if it is far or unfair to refer to followers of specific people, parties and ideas as a cult.
A cult is often defined as a group which is typically led by a charismatic leader, who tightly controls its members, requiring unwavering devotion to a set of beliefs and practices which are considered outside the norms of society.
Almost half of Canadians (47%) and Americans (46%) think it is fair to refer to followers of the Republican Party and Donald Trump as a cult.
Half of Canadians aged 55 and over (50%) can describe followers of Trump and the Republicans as a cult. The numbers are lower among their counterparts aged 35-to-54 (42%) and aged 18-to-34 (48%).
In the United States, respondents aged 55 and over are less likely to believe it is warranted for followers of Trump and the Republicans to be thought of as a cult (42%) than their counterparts aged 18-to-34 (48%) and aged 35-to-54 (49%).
“Americans who describe themselves as Democrats (76%) and Canadians who voted for the Liberal Party or the New Democratic Paty (NDP) in 2021 (63% and 54% respectively) think it is fair to refer to followers of Trump and the Republicans as a cult,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “The proportions are lower among Republicans in the United States (41%) and Conservatives in Canada (40%).”
At least two-in-five Canadians (40%) and Americans (42%) think it is warranted to refer to people who participated in the protests and blockades against restrictions and mandates related to the COVID-19 pandemic as a cult. Slightly smaller proportions of Canadians and Americans (36% and 39% respectively) feel the same way about people who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
While 37% of Americans believe it is fair to refer to followers of the Democratic Party and Kamala Harris in the United States as a cult, the proportion drops to 30% in Canada. The results are similar for followers of Robert Kennedy Jr. in the United States (38% in the United States and 29% in Canada).
In Canada, at least a third of respondents believe it is warranted to refer to followers of the Conservative Party and Pierre Poilievre (35%) and followers of the Liberal Party and Justin Trudeau (33%) as cults, The proportions are lower for followers of the New Democratic Party (NDP) and Jagmeet Singh (31%), followers of the People’s Party and Maxime Bernier (also 31%) and followers of the Green Party and Elizabeth May in Canada (26%).
Methodology: Results are based on an online survey conducted from November 8 to November 10, 2024, among 1,000 adults in Canada and 1,001 adults in the United States. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in each country. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, for each country.
Find our data tables for Canada here, data tables for the United States here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca