John Geer

Media Appearances

• The awkward parallels between the Biden and Trump convictions

  American faith in the criminal justice department is being undermined, said John Geer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University and head of its Project on Unity and American Democracy. He adds, however, that claims of selective prosecution amount to a “pebble thrown in a very large lake”, compared to the broader issues at play.

  December 3rd, 2024

• After Harris' Concession Speech, Who Will Be America's First Woman President?

  A last-minute call-up, Harris was forced to campaign against the backdrop of a tough economic and geopolitical situation, but was nevertheless able "to run a very effective campaign," according to John Geer, professor of political science at Vanderbilt.

  November 6th, 2024

• US election: Donald Trump wins White House in stunning comeback

  Donald Trump won a sweeping victory Wednesday in the US presidential election, defeating Kamala Harris to complete an astonishing political comeback that sent shock waves around the world. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on the 2024 US presidential election, FRANCE 24's Nadia Massih is joined by Dr. John G. Geer, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of Vanderbilt Poll at Vanderbilt University.

  November 6th, 2024

• Most Americans think democracy is in danger, per new Vanderbilt poll

  The Unity Poll is meant to offer "regular snapshots of Americans' sense of national political unity and their faith in the country's democratic institutions," Vanderbilt professor John Geer said in a statement.

  October 16th, 2024

• Republican allies boost longshot candidate Jill Stein as Democrats try to remove her from ballots in battleground states

  "It's smart politics, on the Trump end, to try to siphon votes off from Harris," said John Geer, political science professor at Vanderbilt University. "Politics is not for the faint of heart, and you've got to be ready for a lot of 'unfair' things to happen because it's war, it's a winner takes all contest, and finishing second place is no consolation."

  September 17th, 2024

• ‘The Justins’ seem like civil rights-era throwbacks. But 2023 isn’t 1968.

  John Geer, a Vanderbilt University political scientist who founded a longtime poll that surveys Tennessee voters twice a year, said the men face a heavily gerrymandered state where the legislature is much more Republican and conservative than state voters.

  August 5th, 2023

• Is Tennessee a democracy?

  Still others think the harder shift inside the Republican Party began more recently, after it gained full control. John Geer, a Vanderbilt political scientist, told me that whenever a supermajority controls a legislature for a long period of time, “those in the minority have no political ability to effect change, and so they stop acting like politicians and instead become activists,” a thesis that explains the actions of the Tennessee Three, as well as the feeling that politics has become a form of performance art, only distantly related to real life.

  July 18th, 2023

• After 1st term, Gov. Lee unopposed in GOP primary election

  “Bill Lee has been popular during his time as governor. He started out in the low 60s, but it’s kind of moved down now to mid the mid to high 50s ... which most governors would covet immediately,” said John Geer, a Vanderbilt University dean who co-directs the school’s public policy poll.

  July 13th, 2022

• As right-wing violence spreads, Republicans duck responsibility

  And those people “show up in huge numbers in primaries,” said Vanderbilt University political scientist professor John Geer. Many lawmakers worry far more about angering primary voters than about the general election since the lion’s share of congressional districts aren’t competitive in general elections, Geer said.

  May 20th, 2022

• A Deadly Political Divide

  For many vaccine-reluctant or vaccine-hostile Republicans, "it's Big Brother meets 'Lord of the Flies,'" says John Geer, a Vanderbilt University professor and co-director of a recent Vanderbilt University poll showing a deep partisan divide on vaccines and the danger of the pandemic. That survey found that 74% of Republicans agreed with the statement that the pandemic "is largely over and things should go back to the way they were," while 14% of Democrats agreed.

  July 23rd, 2021