Only 5 percent of registered voters say the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 or Trump's alleged election subversion efforts are their most memorable moments from his time as president, according to a study of a survey that was published Monday.
Researchers from The New York Times and Siena College asked participants to recall one thing they remembered most about Trump's time in office. January 6th and COVID-19, two very significant events in recent U.S. history, ended up at the bottom of the list, with 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
Thirty-nine percent mentioned something connected to Trump's actions, 24 percent mentioned the economy, 9 percent mentioned immigration, and 5 percent mentioned foreign policy.
John Sides, a political science professor at Vanderbilt, told the Times, “The relevance of today's issues influences people's memories of Trump.”
More than a third of participants recalled a negative memory, and the same amount recalled a positive one, the Times pointed out, adding that some memories couldn't be clearly classified.
Those who mentioned negative memories most often said they recalled Trump's behavior the most. The Times provided examples of some of the responses placed in this category: “He was the biggest liar ever”; “His dislike for Black people”; “The terrible things he did to women”; “Chaos and corruption”; “The disgrace he brought to this country”; “His direct way of doing business”; “I remember him using Twitter a lot”; and “He got things done and fulfilled campaign promises.”
Those who mentioned positive memories most often said they remembered the economy the most. Examples from this category include: “The economy”; “The economy was a little better than it is now”; “The economy was in a lot better shape than it is now”; “Gas was cheap and we were using our own oil”; “That he gave out stimulus checks”; “Tax cuts for the rich”; “The tax cuts”; “Good economy, no wars.”
Registered voters who mentioned either January 6th or COVID provided some of the following responses: “When he refused to turn over power”; “He should be in jail for the January 6th incident”; “involvement with the January 6th riot attack on the capital”; “January 6th and his unwillingness to accept the election results”; “His anti-science views; he called Covid a liberal hoax”; “He called Covid-19 a hoax and was a constant liar”; “Total incompetence in handling the Covid-19 crisis”; and “Negligence in providing accurate Covid information.”
The poll was carried out with 1,059 registered voters from April 7 to 11 and had a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.
