Americans — including many Republicans — are losing faith in capitalism, poll shows | CNN Politics

President Donald Trump has indicated that his main strategy for the 2026 midterm elections is to call Democrats “socialists” and even “communists” at every turn. And there is evidence that democratic socialism is gaining somewhat more of a foothold in recent Democratic primaries. But the larger story in American politics right now might be less the rise of socialism than the decline of faith in capitalism and economic fairness. And new polling reinforces that even the right is growing more disillusioned. A recent Fox News poll echoes Gallup data from last year in a key way: It shows views of socialism improving modestly, at best, but views of capitalism dropping more significantly. How scary is a democratic socialist candidate? Apparently not as scary as a MAGA one Views of capitalism have gone from 30 points positive in 2019 (57% favorable to 27% unfavorable among registered voters) to just four points positive today (50%-46%). The poll also shows 65% of voters agree that “the system is rigged to favor the wealthy.” That’s up from 56% in Trump’s first term. What’s most striking about both data points is that some of the biggest shifts occurred among Republicans.

Jul 23, 2026 → Aug 10, 2026