What Do People In Other Countries Think About Hillary And Trump?

I don't know who watches Samantha Bee's show outside of the U.S., or if it's even available in other countries but I had to get in the segment she ran on Halloween night (half above and half below). Pollfish asked 3,500 people across six countries-- Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Mexico, and the UK-- as well as Latinos residing in the U.S., to weigh in on the U.S. presidential elections.

Here are some of the key findings from the polls they ran.

•  60% of the world would vote for Hillary Over Trump

Across the eight countries, 24% of respondents voiced support for Trump, and 26% said they would vote for neither candidate. Mexico showed the strongest support for Hillary-- while opinions were more divided among Spanish-speaking Latinos in the U.S. Russia is the only outlier, demonstrating preference for Trump over Hillary. 

* MEXICO: 96% Hillary, 4% Trump
* U.S. LATINOS: 60% Hillary, 40% Trump
* RUSSIA: 15% Hillary, 48% Trump, 36% neither

(For comparison, according to another Pollfish poll, the breakdown in the USA is currently 53% for Hillary and 47% for Trump.)

• 63% of the world is disturbed by Trump's behavior towards women

Asked whether they believe Trump's lewd comments were locker room banter or potential evidence of sexual assault against women, most respondents said the latter. That belief was strongest in Mexico, Germany, and Canada. Contrarily, most Russian respondents felt Trump's comments were typical banter between men. 

* MEXICO: 75% sexual assault, 25% locker room banter
* GERMANY: 70% sexual assault, 30% locker room banter
* CANADA: 68% sexual assault, 32% locker room banter
* RUSSIA: 25% sexual assault, 75% locker room banter

• 68% of the world favors stricter gun control measures

The UK came in first as the staunchest supporter of stricter gun control measures worldwide, followed by Canada. Opposition to stricter gun control measures was highest in Germany and among Spanish-speaking Latinos in the U.S.

* UNITED KINGDOM: 78% in favor, 10% against, 11% neutral
* CANADA: 71% in favor, 11% against, 18% neutral
* GERMANY: 62% in favor, 16% against, 22% neutral
* U.S. LATINOS: 51% in favor, 16% against, 33% neutral

(For comparison, U.S. sentiments are currently at 60% in favor of stricter gun control laws, 30% against, and 10% neutral.)

• 80% of the world thinks Hillary would be better for international relations

Most respondents said Hillary would create better diplomatic relations with their country. Russia had the opposite response-- with nearly three quarters of respondents opting for Trump. Asked which candidate would be more likely to provoke a conflict with Russia in Syria, 66% of Russian respondents chose Hillary (vs. 34% for Trump).

* MEXICO: 97% Hillary, 3% Trump
* FRANCE: 87% Hillary, 13% Trump
* RUSSIA: 28% Hillary, 72% Trump

• 77% of the world thinks Hillary will win the election

With regards to which candidate they think will actually win the election, three countries stand out: France, as the country most convinced of Hillary's victory; the Spanish-speaking Latino population in the U.S., as most divided over which candidate will win; and Russia, as the only country that thinks Trump will win.

* FRANCE: 83% Hillary, 17% Trump
* U.S. Latinos: 57% Hillary, 43% Trump
* RUSSIA: 42% Hillary, 58% Trump

I'm usually kind of shy about even mentioning the tiny remnants of my love life on this blog, but I do want to say that over the summer I met a fantastic college student in St. Petersburg during my trip to Russia. It's been years since I had this kind of a fling but Igor was very special, as well as being a window of some kind into a mind of a Russian millennial. We met on a bus that got diverted because of a street celebration that closed down Nevsky Prospect. I was lost... and he, unlike the roving conductor/ticket taker, could speak English. Later that night... Igor made it clear that he is quite anti-American. I found that odd after he just gave an American a night of complete bliss while he smoked American cigarettes (no one's perfect) and told me that his dream is to live in Miami. I asked him if he likes American music and he said absolutely nyet! He said he likes rap. Oy.

I tried to figure out why this future Floridian thinks he hates America. I gathered that that's what they're fed by the mass media and what they're taught in school. When Putin ran into some domestic resistance to his politics some years back, he raised the spectre of western antipathy towards the Motherland and it worked wonders for his poll numbers. So he doubled down and the attitude expressed in Russian schools and media right now is uniformly unfriendly towards the West, albeit on a low, controlled boil. Igor wasn't especially aware of Trump or Hillary and wasn't really following the U.S. election, but other Russians I talked to in Moscow and St Petersburg all saw Trump as a buffoon. No one I talked to admired him. I wish I would have asked the peasant lady, munching eggs and tomatoes, on the train out to Suzdal. She kind of looked like what I imagine a Russian Trump-supporter would look like. Igor didn't. So sad.

I hope you've read David Corn's Mother Jones piece on Trump being a Russian-controlled candidate this week. There seems to be proof that for years the Russian government has tried to co-opt and assist Trump and "there was an established exchange of information between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin of mutual benefit." MEMO obtained by Corn:

Russian regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting TRUMP for at least 5 years. Aim, endorsed by PUTIN, has been to encourage splits and divisions in western alliance." It maintained that Trump "and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his Democratic and other political rivals." It claimed that Russian intelligence had "compromised" Trump during his visits to Moscow and could "blackmail him." It also reported that Russian intelligence had compiled a dossier on Hillary Clinton based on "bugged conversations she had on various visits to Russia and intercepted phone calls.