For reasons that only it can explain, CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 decided to do a research project on what 10 and 11-year olds think about Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, and their supporters. On Wednesday, they reported that kids who are more supportive of Trump are more tolerant than those who are more supporative of Harris, but desperately tried to explain this away by claiming that could simply be due to them not knowing as much about her.
In a voiceover, Cooper reported, “Overall, the biggest finding the children in the study were polarized with what researchers called more extreme responses from the blue state kids than the red state kids.”
A trio of kids were then shown bashing Trump. One claimed, “Donald Trump, he did bad things. He's like Hitler.” A second added, “He only wanted to be president, so that he can just control everybody.” Meanwhile, the third claimed, “Trump is supporting January 6. Now, I remember that January 6 was a bunch of Republicans believing Trump, I feel like they thought Trump was a god. People got arrested. I think one officer died after -- afterwards. That was a big day.”
Cooper then added, “The study found that these Democrat-leaning kids were about nine times more likely to express negative emotions about Donald Trump than Republican-leaning kids were about Kamala Harris. Why might that be? Psychologist Asheley Landrum has some ideas.”
Landrum then explained, “So, Donald Trump is a very polarizing figure and it's very possible that the kids are reacting to their parents reacting to Donald Trump being a very different kind of political figure than what we've seen before. So, do the red state kids hold as strong of attitudes? Well, not when we are talking about Kamala Harris, in part that could be because they don't know that much about her.”
Landrum is not wrong to state the kids are probably just repeating what they hear from their parents. However, she is wrong about the second bit. Study after study after study has shown conservatives being far more politically tolerant than liberals regardless of what office Harris held or was seeking at the time of the survey.
Back in the report, Landrum affirmed the results, “The study found that Republican-leaning kids were more open into visiting a Democrat-supporting household. The Democrat-leaning kids were about five times more likely to say, they would not want to go to a pro-Trump house.”
She asked a kid from New Jersey, “Would they be okay with you going over to somebody's house who is really supportive of President Trump?”
The boy said, “No,” and when asked to elaborate, added, “Because we know that he's not -- he's not -- he does not like black people, so you will not -- they will not be happy to see me.”
Landrum then asked the kid who talked about Hitler the same question, and he likewise said, “No… Because, like, my mom and dad don't like Donald Trump at all, not a single bit.”
She then asked the Harris equivalent question to a Texas kid, who replied, “I think it'd be fine. It is just about the personality of the people.
There’s been lots of talk recently about rhetoric, and after this report, maybe CNN should choose to focus on how 10 and 11-year olds have come to call people Hitler and whole groups of people racists instead of trying to explain inconvenient narratives away.
Here is a transcript for the September 25 show:
CNN Anderson Cooper 360
9/25/2025
8:56 PM ET
ANDERSON COOPER (voice-over): Overall, the biggest finding the children in the study were polarized with what researchers called more extreme responses from the blue state kids than the red state kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (NEW JERSEY): Donald Trump, he did bad things. He's like Hitler.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (NEW JERSEY): He only wanted to be president, so that he can just control everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (NEW JERSEY 2): Trump is supporting January 6. Now, I remember that January 6 was a bunch of Republicans believing Trump, I feel like they thought Trump was a god. People got arrested. I think one officer died after -- afterwards. That was a big day.
COOPER (voice-over): The study found that these Democrat-leaning kids were about nine times more likely to express negative emotions about Donald Trump than Republican-leaning kids were about Kamala Harris. Why might that be? Psychologist Asheley Landrum has some ideas.
ASHELEY LANDRUM: So, Donald Trump is a very polarizing figure and it's very possible that the kids are reacting to their parents reacting to Donald Trump being a very different kind of political figure than what we've seen before. So, do the red state kids hold as strong of attitudes? Well, not when we are talking about Kamala Harris, in part that could be because they don't know that much about her.
COOPER (voice-over): Landrum was also curious about how kids saw their peers and the political divide.
LANDRUM: So, do you think that the kids that live in those two houses would be friends with each other?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (NEW JERSEY 3): They can.
LANDRUM: They can?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (NEW JERSEY 3): There's no law breaking that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (ARIZONA 2): It doesn't matter if you are different by skin color or it doesn't matter if you're different by people, you can still be friends.
COOPER (voice-over): The study found that Republican-leaning kids were more open into visiting a Democrat-supporting household. The Democrat-leaning kids were about five times more likely to say, they would not want to go to a pro-Trump house.
LANDRUM: Would they be okay with you going over to somebody's house who is really supportive of President Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (NEW JERSEY 4): No.
LANDRUM: No? And why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (NEW JERSEY 4): Because we know that he's not -- he's not -- he does not like black people, so you will not -- they will not be happy to see me.
LANDRUM: Would you family let you go over to somebody's house who is really supportive of Donald Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (NEW JERSEY): No.
LANDRUM: No, they wouldn't?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (NEW JERSEY): No.
LANDRUM: And why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (NEW JERSEY): Because, like, my mom and dad don't like Donald Trump at all, not a single bit.
LANDRUM: Would you be okay going over to somebody's house whose family really likes Kamala Harris?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TEXAS): I think it'd be fine. It is just about the personality of the people.
LANDRUM: Would your family be okay if you went over to somebody's house who really liked Donald Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (TEXAS 2) If I want to be real over here, he'll -- if I just went over there, (inaudible) I imagine be a good-old argument or a fight, maybe like a food fight or something.
