CNN Study Interviewed Kids on Trump and Harris, but They Got Some Results They May Not Have Expected

I'm not sure what CNN thought they might prove with a study that they recently set up about the election.

They engaged a "psychologist from Arizona State University, along with a renowned political scientist from Stanford, to design a test to understand how 4th and 5th grade students see the 2024 election and the candidates." The psychologist was Ashley Landrum and the political scientist was Shanto Iyengar. According to the NY Post, Landrum had donated to Harris' super PAC during the period she was surveying the children. She told the Post she was "happy to disclose" that she was a Harris donor and a registered independent.

But, what they found out may not have been exactly what CNN was hoping.

Landrum interviewed the 10- and 11-year-old kids in New Jersey, Texas, and Arizona in May and September.

“What’s the first word that pops into your head when you hear the name Kamala Harris?" she asked the kids, including one Texas boy:

Even the kids know 🤣 pic.twitter.com/a2OicLtJOJ
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 26, 2024

A Texas girl said that, while it might be nice to have a black, woman president, she was still "voting" for former President Donald Trump:

Little girl to CNN: “I’d be good for us to have a Black woman as president for the first time in history. But my vote’s kinda still on Trump.”

🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/wW4dX0uSVq
— David J Harris Jr (@DavidJHarrisJr) September 26, 2024

“Pure evil,” a New Jersey girl responds.
“Donald Trump is giving his life and his heart,” a Texas girl disagreed when asked about the 45th president in May, two months before an assassination attempt against him.
“Do you think it’s okay for somebody who is a convicted felon to become president of the United States?” the boy who called Harris a “liar” is asked at another point.
“Yes,” he replied, without reservation.
Others in deep-blue New Jersey described Trump as “brave” for surviving “a gunshot” at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., July 13.

One of the biggest findings was that the blue state kids had "more extreme responses" than the red state kids. They were nine times more likely to express negative emotions about Trump than those who expressed negative emotions about Harris:

CNN: Researchers found "more extreme responses from the Blue state kids than the Red state kids."

"Democrat-leaning kids were abut nine time more likely to express negative emotions about Donald Trump than Republican-leaning kids were about Kamala Harris."

"Republican-leaning… pic.twitter.com/qRQ8T3eqCK
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 26, 2024

One kid says Trump is "like Hitler." Another says Trump only wanted to be president so he can "control everybody." A third said he thought people involved in Jan. 6 thought "Trump was a god."

Landrum calls Trump "polarizing" without dealing with the constant negative media attack on him propagandizing out to the American people. She notes that "it's very possible" the kids were picking up on the feelings of their parents.

They also asked the kids about going to the homes of people who supported the other candidate.

They found, that "Republican-leaning kids were more open to visiting a Democrat-supporting household. Democrat-leaning kids were about five times more likely to say they would not want to go to a pro-Trump house."

Two Democrat-leaning kids saying their parents probably wouldn't like that, including one kid who has been told that Trump doesn't like black people.

You can see the difference in the answer of the boy who referred to Kamala Harris as a "liar"; he thought it would be fine, "it's about the personality of the people."

Kids of course shouldn't be politicized to begin with; kids shouldn't be told Trump is "like Hitler." And ultimately it's the media behind the propaganda, to adults and kids. But the fact that the "Republican-leaning" kids are more open to difference tells you a lot and tends to blow up that old Democratic mantra of who is really intolerant here.