Laura Silver

@lauraruthsilver.bsky.social

Associate Director @pewresearch focused on global opinion, China. Formerly @StateDept. PhD from @PoliticsAtPenn, @AnnenbergPenn. Lover of dumplings and pangolins.

Who Americans expect to gain influence in the new Trump administration according to a new @pewresearch.org survey: - Business corporations 70% - Wealthy people 65% - White people 60% - The military 57% - Men 55% - Evangelical Christians 48% pewrsr.ch/4idN8Cx

Americans expect corporations, the wealthy, White people and other groups to gain influence under Trump

Overwhelming majorities expect transgender people (84%) and gay and lesbian people (76%) to lose influence under Trump.

pewrsr.ch

NEW from @pewresearch.org: - 56% of Americans disapprove of Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship - Most Dems disapprove (84%); most Reps approve (72%) - though Dem disapproval is more widespread and intense than Rep approval - Rep views differ by race and ethnicity pewrsr.ch/4kcSKOv

Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship draws more disapproval than approval

Overall, 56% of U.S. adults disapprove of Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship, while 43% approve.

pewrsr.ch

Great new @pewresearch.org report focused on COVID's impact 5 years later: - 72% of Americans think the pandemic did more to drive the country apart than bring it together - 75% say the pandemic took a toll on them but the vast majority say they have recovered at least somewhat pewrsr.ch/43bH20P

5 Years Later: America Looks Back at the Impact of COVID-19

Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults (72%) say the COVID-19 pandemic did more to drive the country apart than to bring it together.

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Here's an extremely timely new piece from @pewresearch.org on foreign aid, answering questions like how much the federal government spends on foreign aid, what it's used for, who receives it, and how Americans feel about it: pewrsr.ch/4hilaox Some facts in a thread below (1/5)

What the data says about U.S. foreign aid

The $71.9 billion in foreign aid that the government spent in fiscal year 2023 works out to 1.2% of that year’s total federal spending.

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Before Trump pulled out of the WHO, a majority of Americans said the U.S. benefitted from membership in the org. 79% of Dems and 38% of Reps see benefits to membership; this 41 pt gap is larger than partisan divides over the benefits of membership in the UN (36 pts) or NATO (30) pewrsr.ch/4huvfit

4 facts about Americans’ views of the World Health Organization

Nearly six-in-ten Americans (58%) say the U.S. benefits from its membership in the World Health Organization.

pewrsr.ch

Some fascinating facts about federal workers in this new @pewresearch.org roundup (1/5): - The most highly educated federal agency is USAID; 2/3 of its employees have an MA, PhD or other advanced degree - Fewer than a fifth of the workers in OPM's database are in DC, MD or VA (the DMV)

Americans' confidence in the nation's judicial system and courts is now at a record low 35%, per Gallup. Only a few countries have seen larger percentage-point drops in confidence over a similar 4 year span: Myanmar, Venezuela, South Africa and Syria among them. news.gallup.com/poll/653897/...

Americans Pass Judgment on Their Courts

Between 2020 and 2024, Americans' confidence in the U.S. judicial system and courts declined by 24 percentage points, one of the largest country-level drops for the courts measured globally since 2006...

news.gallup.com

According to a new @pewresearch.org blog, 75% of Americans are confident in their ability to find their credit report, but fewer are confident in their ability to create a monthly budget (59%) or a plan to pay off debt (57%) or an investment plan (27%) More here: pewrsr.ch/4iqQ9zA

Roughly half of Americans are knowledgeable about personal finances

Among U.S. adults who are knowledgeable about personal finances, 49% say they learned a great deal or a fair amount about personal finances from family and friends.

pewrsr.ch

88% of voters say the 2024 election was run and administered at least somewhat well -- up from 59% in 2020. These rosier views are driven entirely by shifting Trump voters, 93% of whom say this year was well administered -- compared with 21% in 2020. More here: www.pewresearch.org/politics/202...

Voters Broadly Positive About How Elections Were Conducted, in Sharp Contrast to 2020

Trump voters’ skepticism about election administration and the counting of mail-in ballots declined sharply with their candidate’s win.

pewresearch.org

In a cognitive interview I'm watching, a NYer was asked how happy she would be to share a meal with a Jewish person. She said she'd love to because she loves Jewish food ... like gefilte fish. The election left some feeling confused about public opinion, but this one has me scratching my head ...

With all the energy on this platform, I'm excited to re-engage. I'm an associate director @pewresearch.org focusing on global public opinion, especially foreign policy, democracy and China. Here to share/learn about those things...but also here for any esoteric, nerdy wordplay and puns y'all share.

Trying out this platform again as #Thanksgiving approaches...so here's some new @pewresearch.org data on the holiday - 7% of Americans expect to have dinner with 20+ people this year! - Americans are divided about whether the best holiday meal time is 12-3 PM (36%) or 3-6 PM (38%) shorturl.at/XBZaZ

The vast majority of Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, but their traditions and activities vary widely

Turkey Day traditions, activities and even preferred dinnertimes vary.

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