We asked Americans what they’d heard about Trump and Harris throughout the campaign. Here’s what they told us

Americans were bombarded with starkly different messages about Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in the final days of the 2024 election, according to The Breakthrough, a CNN polling project that tracked the information average Americans were exposed to about the presidential nominees throughout the general election campaign.

In the final pre-election survey conducted from November 1 through 4, the most associated word with Trump’s campaign was “garbage.” This encompassed various stories, including a racist joke about Puerto Rico at Trump’s rally, his own comment about the US being a “garbage can for the world,” and his news conference from inside a garbage truck while wearing a yellow safety vest. On the other hand, the most common words used about Harris in the final days of her campaign were “campaign,” “rally,” and “ad,” showing a more generic narrative.

The data from The Breakthrough project reveals that there was relatively little consensus about the closing narrative of Harris’ campaign, with mentions of Trump and the “garbage truck” being twice as common as mentions of Harris and the “middle class.” This lack of a sustained narrative about either candidate echoes the 2016 election, where there was no persistent negative theme associated with Trump.

However, in 2024, the word “lie” consistently appeared in the top five words associated with Trump in all but one week of the election’s final two months. This contrasts with the lack of a dominant theme for Harris, as no topic – positive or negative – stood out consistently throughout the campaign.

On average, around 76% of US adults reported hearing news about Trump weekly, compared to 71% for Harris. The public’s attention seemed to narrow as the election progressed, with peak focus during the summer and a decline in the final days of the campaign. Sentiment scores for both candidates remained negative overall, with independents expressing consistently negative sentiments towards Trump and a decline in sentiment towards Harris as the campaign progressed.

The Breakthrough project also tracked the sentiment of survey responses, showing that Harris initially had a more positive sentiment score compared to Trump when she entered the race, but this advantage faded in the last month of the campaign. Despite a slight uptick in sentiment for Harris in the final week before Election Day, both candidates’ sentiment scores remained negative.

In conclusion, the data from The Breakthrough project provides insight into how Americans experienced the 2024 election campaign and the different narratives surrounding Trump and Harris. The lack of a sustained narrative for Harris and the consistent association of the word “lie” with Trump highlight the complexities of political messaging and public perception during a presidential election.