Republicans’ confidence in big business, tech giants drops: Gallup

Confidence in big business and big tech among Republicans has fallen somewhat according to a new survey released by Gallup on Monday.

According to the survey, 61 percent of respondents who identified as Republicans said they had a “great deal” or “some” confidence in big business, indicating a drop of 20 percentage points from when the same poll was conducted last year.

The drop was even steeper when it came to big tech, with just 52 percent of Republicans expressing confidence in this sector, showing a drop of 25 percentage points.

Gallup notes that Republican confidence in big businesses has historically remained relatively high, with an average net confidence score of plus 11 percentage points observed from 1973-2020. Since Gallup began recording confidence levels in 1973, Republicans’ confidence has only gone negative during times of financial crisis, such as in 1981 and 2009.

In comparison, confidence in big business among Democrats grew this past year. According to Gallup, 60 percent expressed a “great deal” or “some” confidence in big business, an increase of 7 percentage points. When it came to big tech, 76 percent said they had confidence in large technology companies, a drop of 7 percentage points.

“Big business and large technology companies have lost significant support from Republicans nationwide; each now generates high confidence from less than a third of Republicans,” Gallup wrote, noting that these findings fall in line its report earlier this year that found Republican satisfaction in the size of influence of major corporations was at an all-time low.

“While the poll doesn’t answer why these changes have occurred, the trend spans a year when many corporations became more vocal about racial justice and took public stances in societal debates over voter laws and the Jan. 6 insurrection,” Gallup wrote.

“Added to that, large social media companies have been rebuked in conservative media outlets for blocking certain content about the election and the pandemic, and for shuttering former President Donald Trump’s social media accounts.”

The survey was conducted from June 1-July 5 and involved a random survey of 1,381 U.S. adults from all 50 states. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points with a 95 percent confidence level.