Confidence in the Supreme Court is sinking, new poll shows
A new NBC News poll shows that voters are losing confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court. The support has decreased to its lowest point since the network began polling on the question in 2000. (Photo by Allison Robbert/The Washington Post)
A new poll by NBC News shows that the percentage of voters with significant levels of confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court has decreased to its lowest point since the network began polling on the question in 2000.
According to the most recent survey, only 22% of registered voters nationally said they have a “great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence in the high court. Another 40% said they had “some” confidence, while 38% said they had “very little” or “no” confidence.
The previous low point for voters’ impressions of the Supreme Court came after the ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, according to NBC News. That’s when 27% said they had a “great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence. Voter confidence hit a high of 52% in December 2000, just before the Supreme Court’s Bush v. Gore ruling that cleared the way for former President George W. Bush to take office.
Although Republicans generally have higher confidence in the Supreme Court than Democrats, there has been a decrease among both constituencies over time, according the NBC News polling data. The Supreme Court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority that often favors Republican causes on issues such as abortion and voting rights.
“It’s one thing to make controversial rulings that one party may or may not like but maintain respect and confidence. What we are seeing is quite the opposite, where the court is making controversial rulings but not being respected and in fact confidence is being eroded,” Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the survey alongside Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, told NBC News.
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