Republicans' trust in national news organizations has plummeted since former President Donald Trump first took office, a new poll found.
Only 35% of Republican respondents said they had at least some trust in national news organizations, according to a new Pew Research Center survey on Monday.
In 2016, the year Trump was elected president, 70% of GOP respondents said they had some level of trust in the national news outlets.
In contrast, 78% of Democrat respondents in the latest poll said they had "a lot" or "some" trust in the information that comes from national news organizations.
Pew also found that a 53-point gap in trust between conservative Republicans (30%) and liberal Democrats (83%) is the largest since 2016.
The survey results reflect the increasing levels of partisanship and division in the U.S.
Conservatives’ trust in national news organizations has fallen by 14 percentage points since late 2019. Before that, there had been a yearly single-digit percentage point drop during the Trump administration.
Democrats, meanwhile, have remained far more consistent in the past five years, ranging between 78% and 86%.
Overall, 58% of U.S. adults said they had at least some trust in the information coming from national news organizations — the smallest number in response to that question during the past five years.
Both Republicans and Democrats have little trust in social media platforms. Only 27% of overall respondents said they had some level of trust in the information coming from social media networks, with only 4% saying they had a lot of trust.
Only 34% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents said they had at least some trust in information coming from social networks, with 19% of Republicans and Republican-leaning respondents saying the same.
The 15-point gap regarding social networks is the largest in recent years, according to Pew, and has nearly doubled since late 2019.
Local news outlets fared better, with 75% of respondents saying they had at least some trust in the information that comes from those organizations.
More Democrats (84%) have at least some trust in local news than Republicans (66%), but the gap is smaller than with national news organizations. Still, the difference between the two parties is greater than at any time in recent years.
Five years ago, 85% of Democrats had at least some trust in local news organizations, while 79% of Republicans did.
The Pew Research Center survey was conducted June 14-27, 2021, among U.S. adults.