Poll: Seven in 10 Czechs would vote for Harris instead of Trump

The majority of people in Czechia say they favor American presidential candidate Kamala Harris over rival Donald Trump, according to a recent poll by the NMS Market Research agency. The survey, taken this month, showed that around seven in 10 people – 69 percent – would vote for the Democratic Party nominee.

Harris garnered support across all age and education groups, with the highest backing from university graduates and those aged 35 to 44. She also had an edge among both men and women. Over eight in 10 women – 81 percent – would vote for Harris.

In contrast, the Republican Party’s nominee performed best among 25 to 34-year-olds and males. However, even in this demographic, Harris dominated Trump, claiming 64 percent of the vote share.

The poll showed that Harris was favored by supporters of several Czech political parties, including the Civic Democrats, Mayors and Independents, TOP 09, and the Pirates party, all of whom are in power at the moment. Interestingly, even supporters of the ANO movement, which is considered populist and whose leader Andrej Babiš has a warm relationship with Trump, sided with Harris.

On the other hand, Trump was preferred by voters of the right-wing, nationalist Freedom and Direct Democracy party, as well as the extra-parliamentary Communists and Motorists party.

Tereza Friedrichová, an analyst at NMS, noted the surprising support for Trump among Czech Communist Party voters, despite his right-wing, conservative nature as well as repeated attacks on Harris; calling her a communist and Marxist. 

She suggested that this may be due to the communist electorate's leanings towards populism, anti-establishmentarianism, and anti-systemicism. They also appreciate Trump's tough stance on immigration, NATO, and the war in Ukraine, as well as his relatively friendly attitude toward Russia.

A Trump victory could drive up inflation; his promises of tariffs on imports from various countries, including the EU, are believed to contribute to inflationary pressure. 

This, in turn, could lead to hampered trade from Czechia due to higher export prices. Analysts note that a significant proportion of Czechia’s economy is based on its huge automotive-manufacturing output (and subsequent exports).

Harris on the other hand has outlined her wishes to continue trade with Europe in a globalized approach. 

Talking to Czech media outlet Deník N, Česká spořitelna economist Michal Skořepa believes that a victory for Donald Trump would reduce the likelihood of more U.S. companies moving branches to Europe due to his isolationism and “America-first” approach.

In Slovakia, 59 percent of respondents said they would vote for Harris and 41 percent for Trump, according to NMS. The poll also revealed that Trump was favored by voters of the ruling Smer-Social Democracy and Slovak National Party, while Harris had the support of the ruling Hlas-Social Democracy party.

An aggregation of opinion polls in the U.S. suggests that Harris leads Trump 47 percent to 44.4 percent. That said, it is worth remembering that former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had polled around 4 percentage points above Trump on the day before the 2016 presidential election.