Broken Beyond Repair? Barely Anyone Trusts Politicians
This article is published in collaboration with Statista
by Felix Richter
One of the main drivers of Donald Trump‘s political rise in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election was the fact that he was not a politician, at least not in the traditional sense. He didn't speak like a politician, he didn't act like a politician and as a consequence, he didn't face the same level of distrust that many career politicians face. Trump ran on the promise to "drain the swamp", i.e. to fight corruption and the influence of lobbyists and political insiders in Washington - a promise that seems almost comical from today's perspective.
According to Statista Consumer Insights, people in the United States have shockingly little faith in politicians, with only 6 percent of U.S. respondents saying they trust politicians in their country. That makes politicians the least trusted profession in the U.S., trailing even online influencers, celebrities and lawyers who all face low levels of trust as well. The same can be observed in other countries included in the survey, with respondents from Germany and the UK expressing similarly low confidence in politicians.
Another profession whose reputation has been damaged in recent years is journalists. With people like President Trump relentlessly pushing the narrative of “fake news” and of the so-called “mainstream media” following an agenda, trust in journalism has eroded noticeably in recent years. The trend has only been exacerbated by social media echo chambers, which have made it very hard for people to distinguish between the actual truth and the truth most fitting to their belief system.
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