Poll: Plurality of voters say ‘cancel culture’ has ‘gone too far’

A plurality of voters said that “cancel culture” has “gone too far,” according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday.

A total of 46 percent of registered voters surveyed agreed that cancel culture “has gone too far,” while 10 percent said it has not gone far enough.

Another 18 percent said it has neither gone too far nor not far enough, and slightly more than a quarter of respondents, 26 percent, said they didn’t know or didn’t have an opinion.

The survey defined “cancel culture” using dictionary.com’s definition: “the practice of withdrawing support for (or canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive.”

Nearly half of respondents, 49 percent, said they believe cancel culture has had a negative effect on society, while 27 percent said they think it has had a positive impact.

Forty percent responded that they have participated in cancel culture, and about 1 in 10 said they participate in it “often.”

About half of Democrats and a third of Republicans reported that they shared their disapproval of a public figure on social media after the figure did something controversial.

Age also plays a factor, according to the poll, with those belonging to Gen Z and Millennials being most likely to approve of cancel culture, while Gen Xers and Baby Boomers are more likely to disapprove.

A total of 55 percent of voters ages 18 to 34 reported participating in cancel culture, while 32 percent of voters over 65 said the same.

Respondents’ disapproval of a public figure also depended on when their public statements were made. For those from a year ago, 54 percent said a controversial statement would “completely” or “somewhat” change their opinion of the individual, while 29 percent said it would “change a little bit” or “not change at all.”

For statements from 15 years ago or more, that breakdown flipped: 26 percent said the statement would “completely” or “somewhat” change their opinion, while 53 percent reported it would “change a little bit” or “not change at all.”

The poll surveyed 1,991 registered voters between July 17 and 19. The margin of error amounted to 2 percentage points. 

President Trump mentioned cancel culture during his Fourth of July speech at Mount Rushmore, calling it one of the left’s “political weapons.”

“One of their political weapons is ‘cancel culture’ — driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters, and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees,” he said. “This is the very definition of totalitarianism, and it is completely alien to our culture and our values, and it has absolutely no place in the United States of America.”

The debate over cancel culture has intensified in recent months, including when The New York Times removed its editorial page editor after an op-ed authored by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). The op-ed, which called on the military to respond to protests in the U.S. over racial equality, prompted several people of color on the Times’s staff to say the piece put them in danger.