Partisan asymmetry in tolerating press criticism

Americans are more willing to accept journalists criticizing elected leaders than to accept elected leaders criticizing journalists, and that asymmetry breaks down along partisan lines — when a party controls the White House and Congress its supporters are likelier to say political criticism of the press is acceptable. The finding comes from two national Pew surveys (March and June 2026) and focus groups that show Democrats and Republicans apply different normative rules depending on in‑power status. — This pattern signals a fragile, partisan‑contingent norm for press–state relations that raises the risk of escalatory rhetoric, selective censorship, and weakened mutual accountability between media and political institutions.