More Democrats than Republicans continue to stee Russia as major threat % who say Russia's spower sand influence' are a major threatto the well-being of the United States
Other significant partisan shifts in views of Russia have taken place in recent years. For many years, Republicans and Democrats shared similar views about whether Russia posed a major threat to the United States. For example, as recently as April 2016, 46% of Republicans and 37% of Democrats said “tensions with Russia” were a major threat to U.S. well-being.
By January 2017, after the presidential election, Democrats had become far more likely than Republicans to view Russia as a threat – though views have changed little since then. When the question was most recently asked in October 2017, there was a 25-percentage-point partisan gap: 63% of Democrats and just 38% of Republicans said they viewed “Russia’s power and influence” as a major threat to the well-being of the U.S. Overall, 52% of Americans saw Russia’s power and influence as a major threat.
More Democrats than Republicans  | continue to stee Russia as major threat  | % who say Russia's spower sand influence' are a major  | threatto the well-being of the United States  | Rep/Lean Rep  | Dem/Lean Dem  | 58  | 46  | 35  | '50  | 38  | 37  | 40  | 23 22  | 32  | 23 22  | 105  | 00  | '09  | '11  | '13  | '15  | Notes: Question wording ofitem has changed overthe course ofthe  | trend. See topline for full details  | trend. Source: Survey topline conducted full Oct. 25-30. 2017  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 