Partisan polarization has long been a fact of political life in the United States, but deeply negative views of the opposing party are far more widespread than in the past.

Increasingly, Republicans and Democrats view not just the opposing party but also the people in that party in a negative light. Growing shares in each party now describe those in the other party as more closed-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent than other Americans.

Perhaps the most striking change is the extent to which partisans view those in the opposing party as immoral. In 2016, about half of Republicans (47%) and slightly more than a third of Democrats (35%) said those in the other party were a lot or somewhat more immoral than other Americans. Today, 72% of Republicans regard Democrats as more immoral, and 63% of Democrats say the same about Republicans.

Read more: As Partisan Hostility Grows, Signs of Frustration With the Two-Party System

As the coronavirus pandemic enters its third year, more Americans view strengthening the U.S. economy as a top policy priority for the president and Congress than say the same about dealing with COVID-19.

Currently, 71% of U.S. adults rate strengthening the economy as a top policy priority, followed by reducing health care costs (61%), addressing the coronavirus (60%), improving education (58%) and securing Social Security (57%).

Read more: Public’s Top Priority for 2022: Strengthening the Nation’s Economy

Joe Biden began his presidency with positive job ratings and broad public confidence in his ability to deal with a number of major challenges – particularly the public health impact of the coronavirus. He starts his second year with diminished job approval and majorities expressing little or no confidence in him on many of these same issues, the coronavirus included.

Currently, 41% of Americans approve of Joe Biden’s job performance, which is down slightly from September 2021 (44%) and substantially lower than last April (59%).

With the Omicron variant continuing to spread across the U.S., fewer than half of Americans (44%) now say they are somewhat confident in Biden to handle the coronavirus; that share is down 21 percentage points since March (65%).

Read more: Biden Starts Year Two With Diminished Public Support and a Daunting List of Challenges

As they continue to struggle with a public health crisis and ongoing economic challenges, many people in the United States and Western Europe are also frustrated with politics.

A four-nation survey conducted in November and December of 2020 finds that roughly two-thirds of adults in France and the U.S., as well as about half in the United Kingdom, believe their political system needs major changes or needs to be completely reformed. Calls for significant reform are less common in Germany, where about four-in-ten express this view.

Of course, there are important differences across these countries’ political systems. But the four nations also share some important democratic principles, and all have recently experienced political upheaval in different ways, as rising populist leaders and movements and emerging new forces across the ideological spectrum have challenged traditional parties and leaders.

Read more in our report: Many in U.S., Western Europe Say Their Political System Needs Major Reform

Supporters of Donald Trump and Joe Biden do not just disagree over major national issues and the country’s direction. They also differ over the factors behind U.S. success and the merits of acknowledging the nation’s historical flaws.

A large majority of registered voters (71%) say that “it makes the U.S. stronger when we acknowledge the country’s historical flaws.” 28% say “the U.S. may not have been perfect, but focusing on its historical flaws makes the country weaker.”

Read more in our blog post: Trump and Biden supporters differ sharply on acknowledging the nation’s historical flaws

Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say major tech companies favor the views of liberals over conservatives. At the same time, partisans differ on whether social media companies should flag inaccurate information on their platforms.

Read more in our report: Most Americans Think Social Media Sites Censor Political Viewpoints

At a time when political polarization and antipathy in the United States remains at modern historic highs, many single people looking for a relationship wouldn’t want to date someone who voted for the candidate of the opposing party in the 2016 presidential election. Democrats are especially wary of dating a Trump voter.

There are dramatic gaps in trust in various news outlets between conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats. 

About two-thirds of liberal Democrats (66%) trust The New York Times, for example. In comparison, just 10% of conservative Republicans trust the Times, while 50% outright distrust it. 

Rush Limbaugh, meanwhile, is the third-most trusted source among conservative Republicans (38%) but tied for the second-most distrusted source among liberal Democrats (55%).

At the same time, the gap in trust is less pronounced among the more moderate segments in each party. For example, three-quarters of conservative Republicans trust Fox News, while just about half (51%) of moderate or liberal Republicans do. Conversely, moderate and conservative Democrats are more than twice as likely as liberal Democrats to trust Fox News (32% vs. 12%).

Read more here.

As the U.S. enters a heated 2020 presidential election year, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that Republicans and Democrats place their trust in two nearly inverse news media environments.  

Overall, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents view many heavily relied on sources across a range of platforms as untrustworthy. At the same time, Democrats and independents who lean Democratic see most of those sources as credible and rely on them to a far greater degree.

These divides are even more pronounced between conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats.

Read more here.

There are some clear-cut disagreements among Democrats on whether it is more important for a Democratic candidate to “find common ground” with Republicans or to push hard for policies that Democrats want, even if this makes it harder to get some things done.

Overall, 63% of Democratic voters – including substantial shares of those who support Buttigieg (82%), Bloomberg (79%) and Biden (72%) for the nomination – say it is more important for a Democratic candidate to seek common ground with Republicans, even if it means giving up some things Democrats want.

Sanders and Warren supporters are much less supportive of finding common ground with Republicans. Roughly half of the Democrats who favor either candidate (54% of Sanders supporters, 46% of Warren supporters) say it is more important for a Democratic presidential candidate to push hard for policies Democrats want, even if this makes it harder to get things done.

More findings on the candidates’ supporters here.

The predominant view among Democrats – expressed by 73% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents – is that there is a lot or some discrimination against blacks and little or no discrimination against whites.

By contrast, only about a quarter of Republicans (23%) share these views. A larger share (38%) says there is a lot or some discrimination against both races; 22% say both blacks and whites face little or no discrimination; and 17% say whites face at least some discrimination, but blacks do not.

Democrats far more likely than Republicans to see discrimination against blacks, not whites

Trump has evoked strong feelings as president – both positive and negative. How would you feel discussing him at a dinner party with a group of people who have opposing views from your own? Visit our interactive to see how your views compare with those of other Americans.