As Washington continues to hammer large technology companies for their perceived market power and business practices, Americans are slowly but surely starting to get on board with presidential candidates taking on Silicon Valley.
According to a new Morning Consult/Politico survey, 45 percent of adults want presidential candidates to be more critical of the technology industry, up 5 percentage points from an August 2019 survey that asked the same question. That slight growth is also seen among Democrats and Republicans: 48 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of Republicans now want candidates to be more critical of the industry — 6- and 5-point jumps, respectively, from last year.
However, GOP adults view criticizing the tech industry as a slightly higher priority than Democrats and all respondents. Among Republicans, tech ranked eighth on a list of 15 industries that presidential candidates should scrutinize more, compared to the industry’s No. 11 ranking among all adults and No. 10 among Democrats. Last year, GOP adults ranked the industry 11th...
Ethan Porter, an assistant professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University whose research focuses on public opinion and political communication, said the industry rankings are picking up not only on what adults want candidates to rail against, but also issues that voters themselves have become most critical.