Would Iron Man vote for Trump? Poll takes on fictional characters’ politics

The survey found Leslie Knope and Carrie Bradshaw among the most likely Harris supporters, while Archie Bunker and Walter White appeared on the Trump side.

It has been an election shaped by unreality, so why not ask voters how beloved fictional characters may vote?

Polling firm YouGov asked Americans how more than 50 characters from television and movies would vote in the US presidential election between Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

The most likely Harris supporters, the poll found, include Liz Lemon from 30 Rock, Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation, Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City, Phoebe Buffay from Friends, Elaine Benes from Seinfeld and Barbie from the Barbie movie. The top 10 characters scoring the highest marks for Harris support were all women.

Meanwhile, the Trump side has Tony Stark from Iron Man, Walter White from Breaking Bad, Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock, Homer Simpson from The Simpsons, and Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation. Of the top 20 characters voting for Trump, two were women.

YouGov surveyed 1167 adult Americans between October 25 and October 28. It polled people about what characters they were familiar with, so there was the best chance of getting representative data.

A US poll suggests there's a strong chance Carrie Bradshaw would head out to vote for Kamala Harris. Photo / HBO

Part of the poll’s appeal is that people are always looking for a lighthearted way to talk about something serious, said Jason Mittell, a professor of media studies at Middlebury College in Vermont. Plus, there’s a lot of projection on to these characters, and they can’t tell us we’re wrong.

“That’s the fun of it. This is kind of political fan fiction. It’s a lot lower-stakes and lower-pressure way to talk about politics,” he said.

Having spent sometimes dozens of hours with some of the characters, many viewers have parasocial relationships with these nonexistent people.

“We know they’re fictional, but they are felt figures. They are figures who play a role in our time and thus in our lives,” Mittell said.

There were some thought-provoking results, such as a majority of people thinking Mr Miyagi from The Karate Kid would support Harris and Dwight Schrute from the The Office going for Trump almost two to one.

The poll doesn’t address a lot of factors. For instance, are we supposed to age these characters to present day? Because today, Lucy Ricardo would be 113 years old. I Love Lucy premiered 73 years ago. About 25% of those polled believe Lucy would have voted for Trump, which Mittell thinks is too high for the protofeminist figure.

“The plot of almost every episode is her trying to get out the house to get a job or get on TV to become a star,” he said. “She is always in a belittled domestic role.”

Mittell offered his opinion: “She’s the one who goes into the poll when no one is looking and votes for Harris.”

About 25% of those polled believe Lucy Ricardo would have voted for Trump. Although Ricardo would be 113 years old now, she was known for being comical and progressive.

And then we must consider when along these characters’ narrative arcs we are meant to assess them. Great stories show a transformation of the main character.

Mittell said he feels Walter White began as a Democrat but ended Breaking Bad as a Republican. Then there’s Archie Bunker, an ornery guy who was explicitly Republican at the start of All in the Family but softened by the spin-off Archie Bunker’s Place, Mittell said: “He mellows to a point where he’d find Trump distasteful.” (Bunker was the character most likely to vote for Trump, per the poll.)

What we know about the actors also creeps into the data, he said. “The Roseanne of the 90s was a Democrat, no question,” Mittell said. “Obviously, she has changed.” Roseanne Barr has become a staunch conservative whose reboot was cancelled after she made racist posts about Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, who is black.

Tony Stark - a.k.a Iron Man - would be firmly in the Trump camp, according to a YouGov poll. Photo / Marvel / Composite / AFP

There are also logistics to consider, such as Miles Morales in the animated Spider-Man series and Bella Swan from Twilight being too young to legally vote.

Mittell, who wasn’t involved in the poll, said there were some interesting cases.

For instance, Harris supporters were more likely than Trump backers to say the Joker from the Batman franchise would support Trump.

Mittell said he thinks a charismatic villain cuts an interesting figure in this poll. He said Democrats are more likely to associate the Joker with Trump because they are more likely to say “he’s chaotic, he’s malicious, he’s vengeful”. But, he said, “the Trump supporters focus on the coolness of the character and the humour of the character”.

Then there’s Captain America. There was a fairly even split among poll respondents, which makes sense.

In the age of extreme partisanship, no one wants to give Captain America to the other side. “More than in most elections, what’s a stake is what an American is and who is allowed to be a part of it,” Mittell said.

Captain America, played by Chris Evans, drew a fairly even split from poll respondents. Photo / Marvel

A synonym for patriotism, Cap would be a big win for either side to claim.

“The Republicans obviously have traditionally latched on to patriotism as a core ethos, and they also look at Captain America as … tied to World War II in origin, whereas the Democrats, this election especially, have tried to reclaim patriotism and defending democracy,” Mittell said.

On that other side of the superhero aisle is Tony Stark, whom 47% of respondents said would vote for Trump, compared with 36% saying he’d cast a ballot for Harris.

Stark, whose company relies on government contracts, reminded Mittell of someone else. “If he were in our world, he’d be playing the Elon Musk game,” Mittell said, adding that he thinks Stark would end up voting for Harris in the booth.

Mittell said he first saw YouGov’s chart all over his Bluesky social media feed, which he took as an indication that people are interested in taking a break from politics.

“I’d so much rather be talking about this than looking at exit polls,” he said on Tuesday.