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Here’s public trust in government, it shows your decades theory correct. Watergate seems to be the catalyst in how Americans distrust their own government although they continue to elect their own government leaders. We don’t trust who we elect. Perhaps this is due to electing the lesser of two evils or those voting against a candidate/party, but never for a candidate or party. I’ve done the latter in each of the last two presidential election. Voting against both major party candidates in 2016 and voting against Trump in 2020, casting a vote for Biden, but it was mostly due to my want to have Trump gone. Not necessarily for Biden. Anyone who could have beat Trump would have done.
Trust in the media to report the news fairly, accurately and fully has also declined since Watergate.Only 32% of all Americans trust the media to do so.
Trust or confidence in our electoral system only goes back to 2004, but since then that trust or confidence has fallen from 75% down to 63%. I wouldn’t call Trump a winner, but he is the result of decades of growing distrust and lost confidence in all three categories, Government, media and our electoral system. I would add an overall distrust of our institutions of government. 41% have a great deal or a fair amount of trust in the presidency, executive branch, 32% in congress, legislative branch 49% in the judicial branch.
It's high past time that we start electing Americans to congress and the presidency who put America first instead of their political party. For way too long we have been electing Republicans and Democrats who happen to be Americans instead of Americans who happen to be Republicans and Democrats.
