Most Germans would be afraid if Trump is elected: poll
Emma Anderson - [email protected]
Published: 4 Nov, 2016 CET.
Updated: Fri 4 Nov 2016 12:49 CET
A new poll by YouGov shows Germans would most likely be "afraid", "disappointed" or "angry" if billionaire real estate tycoon Donald Trump is elected US president next week.
The survey showed that 65 percent of German respondents answered that they would feel “afraid” if Trump were to become president of the United States, YouGov reported on Wednesday.
Market research firm YouGov surveyed 2,068 German adults between October 20th and 25th, and also polled residents of the UK, France, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway.
Participants were asked to choose two to three emotions from a list to describe how they would feel about a Trump presidency.
More than one-third (36 percent) answered that they would be “disappointed” with Trump as president and 30 percent said they would feel “angry”.
In contrast, the most common response among Germans about how they would feel if Hillary Clinton became president was “relieved” at 52 percent, followed by “optimistic” (35 percent) and “happy” (15 percent).
Just 13 percent said they would be afraid if Clinton took the Oval Office.
A large majority of Germans backed former Secretary of State Clinton as a candidate with 69 percent saying they would vote for her, while just 8 percent said they would cast their ballots for Donald Trump.
Another 14 percent of Germans polled would not vote at all and 9 percent said they did not know how they would vote.
There was also a higher percentage of Germans who said they would vote for Clinton than those who said they would vote for the Democratic party: 55 percent said they would be Democrats compared to the 69 percent who said they supported Clinton.
Likewise, fewer people said they would vote for Trump than those who said they would usually vote for the Republican party if they could: 8 percent and 10 percent respectively.
And the vast majority of Germans thought Clinton would win at 76 percent.
Clinton would be an ‘average’ president
Germans were quite clear about how they generally felt about a Trump presidency: Three-quarters said he would be a poor or terrible leader. Just 5 percent said he would be good or great.
Certain leading German politicians have also not held back about their attitude towards Trump. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier labelled the Republican candidate a "hate preacher" in August.
Feelings about Clinton were more mixed among Germans in the poll. The most common answer was that she would be an “average” president at 40 percent of respondents, while a little over one-third said she would be good or great, and 17 percent said she would be poor or terrible.
Most Germans also said that Clinton would be the best candidate for improving relations with Europe at 63 percent. Only 5 percent of German respondents said the same for Trump.
Germans also mostly said that they thought Clinton would be better suited for promoting peace in the world, with 51 percent of respondents agreeing, compared to 6 percent of respondents saying the same about Trump. Still, a little over a third of respondents said neither could promote world peace.
The answers were more split about who would do better in fighting international terrorism: 39 percent of Germans said Clinton is better suited for combating terrorism, 16 percent said Trump would be, and one-third (33 percent) said neither of them could do this. Another 12 percent said they did not know.
Germans quite intrigued by American politics
Most Germans showed some level of interest in the US elections: about one in four said they were “very interested” and another 46 percent said they were “fairly interested”, adding up to 72 percent. Just 8 percent said they were not interested at all.
Germans were also the most keen about the US election, showing more interest than the Brits, the French, Danes, Finns and Norwegians, though Germans also tied with Swedes.
The French showed the least care for the election at 58 percent.
Comments
See Also
The survey showed that 65 percent of German respondents answered that they would feel “afraid” if Trump were to become president of the United States, YouGov reported on Wednesday.
Market research firm YouGov surveyed 2,068 German adults between October 20th and 25th, and also polled residents of the UK, France, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway.
Participants were asked to choose two to three emotions from a list to describe how they would feel about a Trump presidency.
More than one-third (36 percent) answered that they would be “disappointed” with Trump as president and 30 percent said they would feel “angry”.
In contrast, the most common response among Germans about how they would feel if Hillary Clinton became president was “relieved” at 52 percent, followed by “optimistic” (35 percent) and “happy” (15 percent).
Just 13 percent said they would be afraid if Clinton took the Oval Office.
A large majority of Germans backed former Secretary of State Clinton as a candidate with 69 percent saying they would vote for her, while just 8 percent said they would cast their ballots for Donald Trump.
Another 14 percent of Germans polled would not vote at all and 9 percent said they did not know how they would vote.
There was also a higher percentage of Germans who said they would vote for Clinton than those who said they would vote for the Democratic party: 55 percent said they would be Democrats compared to the 69 percent who said they supported Clinton.
Likewise, fewer people said they would vote for Trump than those who said they would usually vote for the Republican party if they could: 8 percent and 10 percent respectively.
And the vast majority of Germans thought Clinton would win at 76 percent.
Clinton would be an ‘average’ president
Germans were quite clear about how they generally felt about a Trump presidency: Three-quarters said he would be a poor or terrible leader. Just 5 percent said he would be good or great.
Certain leading German politicians have also not held back about their attitude towards Trump. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier labelled the Republican candidate a "hate preacher" in August.
Feelings about Clinton were more mixed among Germans in the poll. The most common answer was that she would be an “average” president at 40 percent of respondents, while a little over one-third said she would be good or great, and 17 percent said she would be poor or terrible.
Most Germans also said that Clinton would be the best candidate for improving relations with Europe at 63 percent. Only 5 percent of German respondents said the same for Trump.
Germans also mostly said that they thought Clinton would be better suited for promoting peace in the world, with 51 percent of respondents agreeing, compared to 6 percent of respondents saying the same about Trump. Still, a little over a third of respondents said neither could promote world peace.
The answers were more split about who would do better in fighting international terrorism: 39 percent of Germans said Clinton is better suited for combating terrorism, 16 percent said Trump would be, and one-third (33 percent) said neither of them could do this. Another 12 percent said they did not know.
Germans quite intrigued by American politics
Most Germans showed some level of interest in the US elections: about one in four said they were “very interested” and another 46 percent said they were “fairly interested”, adding up to 72 percent. Just 8 percent said they were not interested at all.
Germans were also the most keen about the US election, showing more interest than the Brits, the French, Danes, Finns and Norwegians, though Germans also tied with Swedes.
The French showed the least care for the election at 58 percent.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.