Trump Is Becoming His Party's Biggest Liability
Independent voters have turned sharply against the president, while even Republicans are showing signs of unease
With the war in Iran dragging on and Trump dragging his feet on the economy, Americans are none too pleased with how the President has been acting as of late.
When asked if Trump is focused enough on addressing the problems that most Americans are facing, 68% said that he’s not, while only 29% said that he is.
Unsurprisingly, 70% of Republicans say that he’s addressing the problems most Americans face, yet even 25% of his own party’s supporters disagree with that notion. Compare that to 77% of independent voters who disagree with the idea, along with 96% of Democrats, and it’s clear that the president’s priorities have been elsewhere.
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When you break it down by how Trump is handling a variety of issues, his numbers only continue to decline. For example, his best issue in the Quinnipiac poll was immigration, where he’s still sitting at a net approval of -17%. That should be one of his strongest issues, and yet even there he’s struggling.
When it comes to trade, his net approval sits at -21%, which probably is not helped by even more tariffs being placed on 80 some odd countries. As a result, his approval on the economy is even worse, sitting at -28%, while his foreign policy approval also stands at -28%.
His single worst issue is his handling of Iran, with only 28% of Americans saying he’s handling it well. That’s another unsurprising result, given the same poll found that only 36% of Americans believe the United States is winning the war in Iran, while 54% said that it is not.
His approvals among independent voters are even worse than the topline numbers suggest. His approval on immigration sits at -30%, trade at -35%, foreign policy at -47%, the economy at -50%, and his handling of Iran is all the way down at -57%.
With Trump doing so poorly on issues like the economy and trade, it’s no wonder Americans say they’re worse off today than they were a year ago.
Among all Americans, 49% say they’re worse off today than they were a year ago, while 34% say that they’re better off than they were a year ago. Only 16% of Americans say that they’re in a similar financial position to where they were a year ago.
Republicans were the most likely to say that they’re better off today (63%), yet even a fifth of Republican voters say they’re actually worse off. Add in the 53% of independent voters and 68% of Democrats who say they’re worse off than they were a year ago, and it’s clear that the shift in sentiment against Trump has taken hold.
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Finally, Quinnipiac asked whether Americans blame Trump for the rise in gasoline prices, and Americans are squarely pinning the blame on the president.
54% of Americans say they blame Trump a lot for the rise in gas prices, including 88% of Democrats, 59% of Independents, and 11% of Republicans. Another 19% say they blame Trump somewhat, including 8% of Democrats, 20% of Independents, and 27% of Republicans.
Between those who say they don’t blame Trump much for the rise in gas prices and those who don’t blame him at all, that number sits at 26%, which is highest among Republicans at a combined 57%. Still, when 38% of your own voters say that you’re directly responsible for raising their gas prices, one of the most common expenses for the average American, you’ve got some serious problems.
To that end, Blue Rose found Trump’s national gas price approval before the start of the war at 46%. As of July 14, that number has dropped to 33%, and with rumours that gas prices may get even worse before November, it’s fair to say Republicans, and Donald Trump himself, are in for a very difficult election.
That same Blue Rose tracker found Trump’s cost of living approval declining across many battleground states this election.
For example, his approval on the cost of living dropped from 45% to 40% in Texas, while in Georgia it fell from 43% to 39%, and the pattern is similar across the board. In Alaska it has fallen from 44% to 38%, Michigan has gone from 40% to 34%, and Maine has dropped from 36% to 32%.
This is a president who has not been paying attention to the numbers, either because he doesn’t want to believe them or because he’s not being shown anything negative. Either way, this has the potential to become a bloodbath for Republicans, and November is likely going to be bluer than many are expecting.
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