Poll: Capitalism trounces socialism — but Sanders beats Trump

Bernie Sanders.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Voters narrowly back Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in a hypothetical face-off against President Trump, even as a majority has a negative view of socialism, a new poll has found.

In an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey released Sunday, 53 percent of registered voters said they have a negative view of socialism, compared to 19 percent who have a positive view. The poll found the opposite result for capitalism, which 52 percent of voters said they have a positive view of, compared to 18 percent who said they have a negative view of it. This finding came ahead of the caucuses in Iowa, where Sanders has been surging.

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Previously, a Gallup poll from November found that 39 percent of Americans say they have a positive view of socialism, compared to 57 percent with a negative view. But pointing to the fact that 49 percent of voters in this new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll backed Sanders despite the low support for socialism, The Washington Post's Dave Weigel argued Monday that "there's clearly some wiggle room for people who disagree *conceptually* but like him a lot."

NBC News/Wall Street Journal's poll was conducted by speaking to 1,000 registered voters from Jan. 26-29. The margin of error is 3.1 percentage points. Read the full results at NBC News.

Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.