Trump beware: US voters are concerned about government corruption

Government corruption has become the second-biggest concern for voters heading into the midterms, behind only the cost of living, according to an October Harris poll for the Guardian. Eighty-seven percent of respondents called it a problem, a larger share than named AI or immigration, and 65% of likely midterm voters rated it a major problem. Columnist Eduardo Porter argues that the Trump administration is trying to redirect that anxiety toward alleged fraud among low-income Americans, borrowing from Ronald Reagan's 1976 story of Linda Taylor, the so-called welfare queen, whom Reagan portrayed as a massive fraudster though she was charged over only $9,000.

Vice President JD Vance's anti-fraud taskforce announced a $40m Snap fraud finding and the removal of 760,000 Obamacare enrollees, and Donald Trump has floated a 1% commission for anyone who reports fraud. But the poll suggests voters are more troubled by officials favoring their own or donors' finances over the public. Porter points to Trump's reported $2. 2bn in earnings in his first year back, $1. 4bn of it from crypto, and to the SEC pausing a fraud suit against a crypto investor with ties to Trump ventures.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →