A damning new poll shows that Americans are all but through with the Democratic Party, a sentiment that runs right in line with a pre-2024 election survey showing that free speech was a top concern among U.S. adults in determining who to vote for.
Conducted by CNN, the March poll revealed that “the Democratic Party’s favorability rating stands at just 29%” among Americans. This is a “record low in CNN’s polling dating back to 1992 and a drop of 20 points since January 2021,” the outlet noted.
Political commentators have debated whether former Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss in November signified a decay of the Democratic Party and its ability to deliver results to the American public. But this CNN poll has erased any remaining doubt and it’s worth asking why this happened.
Independent journalist Michael Shellenberger, known for his work on The Twitter Files, proposed censorship may have played a significant role. “Democrats had hit bottom, many said. They hadn’t [sic],” he wrote in an X post referencing the CNN poll. “The Party is trapped between a base that wants trans sports, open borders, DEI, ESG, Ukraine war, and mass censorship, and swing voters who really, really don’t” [emphasis added].
Democrats had hit bottom, many said. They hadn’t. The Dems’ favorability has hit a new record low of 29%. The Party is trapped between a base that wants trans sports, open borders, DEI, ESG, Ukraine war, and mass censorship, and swing voters who really, really don’t. https://t.co/fhp2awRHjK pic.twitter.com/0GpgwMErBU
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) March 16, 2025
Censorship, although just one in Shellenberger’s list, is arguably the most important as it impacted swing voters’ ability to discuss and stay well-informed about important issues that impact their livelihood.
One survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression just a few weeks before the 2024 election seemed to show that Americans were keenly aware of this before going to the ballot box. The survey found that 63 percent of respondents considered free speech a “very important” factor in making “[their] decision about who to vote for in the 2024 Presidential election.” Another 25 percent claimed it was “somewhat important.” The category of “inflation or increasing costs” was the only one that a greater percentage of people ranked “very important.”
This is unsurprising considering that past MRC Free Speech America studies and our exclusive CensorTrack database have again and again revealed that the issues Shellenberger mentioned, and others, are repeatedly shut out of public conversation by Big Tech companies and even our federal government.
Since 2020, MRC researchers have recorded in the CensorTrack database:
- Over 1,000 examples of Big Tech censoring those criticizing the left’s “transgenderism” agenda;
- Over 1,000 examples of Big Tech censoring posts related to COVID-19;
- Over 700 examples of social media companies censoring content related to elections and campaigns;
- Over 200 examples related to race relations including posts exposing critical race theory in schools; and
- Over 100 examples of Big Tech censoring those who dispute climate change or who comment on illegal immigration respectively.
And this barely scratches the surface of the immense amount of censorship that has taken place in recent years.
Not to mention, MRC recently unveiled 57 censorship initiatives pushed by the Biden-Harris administration to drive a radical agenda and silence Americans. The report uncovered intertwined relationships between the U.S. government, social media platforms, AI companies, public universities and NGOs all working toward a common goal of eliminating right-wing views from society and shaping what the public thinks and knows.
It’s clear as Shellenberger aptly noted, that Americans are done with the blatant partisanship and censorship perpetrated by the Democrat-led Biden-Harris administration. CNN’s poll, the 2024 election results and the NORC/FIRE survey bear this out. “The decline comes across ideological wings, with favorability ratings for the Democratic Party falling by 18 points among liberals and moderates alike since the start of 2021,” CNN wrote.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Democrats shut out those who now consider themselves part of the MAHA right or Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Republicans. The left canceled moderate liberals who have been shell-shocked by the insanity of the so-called trans movement preying upon children. And large companies were strongly encouraged to participate in government-supported discrimination programs like Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Environmental, Social and Governance standards (ESG) and censorship programs that were bad for business.
Now with its all-time-low approval rating, the Democratic Party leadership is left with the shambled mess it created. Will it take its cues from California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who through his podcast is giving all appearances of trying to bridge the gap? Or will it follow former Vice President Kamala Harris, whose inauthenticity and undying commitment to the most extreme brand of leftism cost the party its popularity and ultimately the presidency?
Free speech is under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech and government be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for alternative viewpoints. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
