US Voters Show Declining Faith in Capitalism, Growing Concern Over Economic Inequality

Kathmandu. US President Donald Trump has adopted a strategy of continuously attacking Democratic candidates as 'socialist' or 'communist' in the 2026 midterm elections. Although there has been some growing support for democratic socialism in recent Democratic primaries, the biggest change in American politics today is not the rise of socialism but the declining faith in capitalism and economic justice.

A recently released Fox News poll confirms this trend. It presents conclusions similar to last year's Gallup poll, showing a slight improvement in attitudes towards socialism while a significant decline in positive views towards capitalism.

In 2019, among registered voters, 57 percent viewed capitalism positively and 27 percent negatively, meaning the positive view was 30 percentage points higher. Now, 50 percent have a positive view and 46 percent have a negative view. This shows the positive vote gap has narrowed to just 4 percentage points.

According to the survey, 65 percent of American voters agree that 'the economic system is tilted in favor of the rich.' During Trump's first term, the number of people holding this view was 56 percent.

Growing Dissatisfaction Among Republicans Too

The most notable of these figures is that a large part of the change has been seen among Republican supporters.

In 2019, 72 percent of Republicans had a positive view of capitalism. This number has now dropped to 61 percent. Similarly, the proportion of Republicans with a 'very positive' view of capitalism has decreased from 54 percent to 41 percent.

Likewise, the number of Republicans who believe 'the economic system is tilted in favor of the rich' has increased from 30 percent in 2018 to 42 percent now.

This means that less than half of the members of the Republican party, known as the party of free markets, are expressing strong support for capitalism, while 42 percent express the view that the economic system favors the rich. This idea aligns with issues often raised by independent Senator Bernie Sanders.

Growing Disappointment with the Economic System

Other surveys also show the same trend. According to a June survey by the Wall Street Journal-NORC, less than half of Americans believe capitalism is working 'at least somewhat well.' About a decade ago, the number of people holding this view was 60 percent.

In a January survey by the Pew Research Center, 61 percent of Americans said the issue of the rich not paying their fair share of taxes is a major concern. This includes 41 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independent voters.

In the same survey, 60 percent of Americans said some large companies also do not pay their fair share of taxes. Among voters with Republican leanings, 42 percent hold this view.

According to Gallup, positive views of big business, which were 58 percent positive and 39 percent negative in 2012, have fallen to 37 percent positive and 62 percent negative as of last year.

Agenda for Economic Reform Could Be Effective

All these figures indicate that candidates who promise to change the current economic system may gain more appeal among American voters. Regardless of whether such agendas are called socialism or by any other name, public concern about economic inequality appears to be growing.

This is why, even though democratic socialism is not yet widely popular, some leaders associated with that ideology have managed to gain significant public support at the national level.

For example, independent Senator Bernie Sanders is considered one of the most positively viewed politicians in America over the past decade. Similarly, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) has managed to maintain considerable popularity despite long-standing criticism from Republicans. In the Fox News poll, her popularity is seen to be on par with Vice President JD Vance, although neither is extremely popular.

This week, Republican commentator Meghan McCain commented that if Democrats put forward candidates like New York Mayor Juharun Mamdani, who can speak effectively on economic issues, it would pose a significant challenge to Republicans.

She wrote on the social media platform X, 'His style of presentation is very effective. Although I have deep disagreements with socialism, his message is very impactful. If Democrats are wise, they will put forward candidates with a similar style and presentation on economic and national policy issues.'

All these facts suggest that Trump's idea of simply labeling opponents as 'socialist' or 'communist' may not be an effective weapon for winning elections.