Who is the candidate in the American presidential election that the French would like to see installed in the White House? A YouGov survey for Internet users gives the answer.
It is an understatement to say that America Donald Trump and that of Kamala Harris would not have the same face, as their political differences are numerous and irreconcilable. The American election on November 5, 2024 has considerable stakes for the approximately 330 million Americans, but it must also be said that the rest of the world will be impacted by the choice of United States citizens. This presidential election is also being closely followed by economic and political actors on our continent, European investors, but also by the forces involved in supporting Ukraine.
The French are therefore right to be interested in the subject, even if the news of the candidates is not yet exciting in France. A YouGov poll (to be discovered in its entirety here), carried out for Linternaute, reveals that only 48% of French people are following this American presidential campaign. This study, rich in lessons, also sheds light on the way in which the French perceive Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Unsurprisingly, given the unpopularity of the Republican billionaire, the vast majority of French people want a defeat for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. 55% of respondents would prefer Kamala Harris, who took over Joe Biden’s campaign , be elected head of state. Only 19% lean for Donald Trump. 26% preferred to state that they had no opinion or were “not sure” whether they preferred a candidate. Note that the image of the Republican candidate has nevertheless improved in France in recent years: in 2020, only 10% of French people wanted a victory for Donald Trump, according to a previous YouGov poll for Linternaute.
Donald Trump appreciated especially among the youngest French people
If Kamala Harris is popular with the French, we should also note that the answer to this question varies significantly depending on the profiles of the respondents. Thus, 27% of men and only 10% of women in France prefer a victory for Donald Trump. The latter is also much more appreciated by the youngest French people (35% of 18-34 year olds want his victory – almost double the average of respondents, 37% want Kamala Harris to lead the country). Only 12% of those over 55 prefer the Republican to win.
The differences are also remarkable depending on partisan proximity. Only 8% of New Popular Front supporters want a new victory for Donald Trump. They are 15% among supporters of Emmanuel Macron or Ensemble. There are significantly more of them among LR supporters (23%, compared to 19% in 2020). Unsurprisingly, it is the National Rally supporters who are most likely to want Donald Trump to win (29%, compared to 22% in 2020). However, 47% of them want Kamala Harris to be the next president of the United States.
French people who do not vote or who say they are not ideologically close to any party are 45% who prefer a victory for Donald Trump (compared to 34% for Kamala Harris), which suggests that in their eyes the American billionaire embodies a position outside the system, even anti-system.
Kamala Harris rather popular with the French
The Yougov poll for Linternaute also makes it possible to gauge the popularity of the two candidates. 49% of French people have a good or very good opinion of Kamala Harris (18% say the same for Donald Trump), 12% have a bad opinion of the Democrat (while 63% of French people have a bad opinion of the Republican ).
The French, on the other hand, are quite pessimistic about the capacity of Kamala Harris, if she is elected president of the United States, to influence the resolution of the main armed conflicts. Only 33% of respondents think that it would be able to “provide solutions to the crises in Ukraine and the Middle East. The French are even harsher towards Donald Trump on the subject: only 22% think that Donald Trump could have a positive impact on these issues.
The survey presented in this article was carried out on 1,000 people representative of the French national population aged 18 and over. The survey was carried out online, on the proprietary YouGov France panel from October 1 to 3, 2024.