Highlights from Blue Rose Research’s new poll-tested messaging memo:

• We continue to find that it tends to be difficult to lower Trump's approval with voters using immigration related messaging (ICE, the border, specific major stories, etc), but there are a few clear best practices for communicating that consistently emerge across all of our testing: 

  • Focusing on the specific and direct harms caused to regular people are always more persuasive than abstract arguments about fascism, corruption, or threats to democracy. 

  • Messages tend to be less persuasive when they use charged language or sweeping calls like “abolish ICE” or “state-sponsored terrorism.” More measured language that focuses on accountability and common-sense tends to be more effective at hitting Trump or increasing perceptions of Democrats.

• Initial research from video testing reinforces these findings in a real-world media context: In testing of 15 viral viewed videos about the Minneapolis shooting, raw eyewitness footage and straightforward reporting consistently drove meaningful increases in Trump disapproval, while ideological or maximalist rhetoric from elected officials often underperformed or backlashed. This isn't unique to the tragic events in Minneapolis. Throughout 2025 social media posts of other graphic ICE atrocities have effectively moved Trump disapproval. The most effective videos focused on concrete harms rather than abstract claims about authoritarianism—mirroring the same patterns we observe in survey message testing.