Two weeks before the November midterm elections, Trump’s approval rating is hitting new lows, and newly published polls confirm this decline. His approval rating is slipping. Polls showing that US President Donald Trump’s approval rating continues to fall have been released as the elections approach.
According to a poll published by The New York Times and Siena University, only 36 percent of the voters surveyed said they approved of Trump’s performance. This was the lowest level in the poll series. 59 percent disapproved. While 94 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of independents disapproved of his performance, 80 percent of Republicans said they approved.
In the Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week, his approval rating came in at 31 percent, the lowest level of Trump’s time in office. This was the lowest level. CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten described the results as “an out-of-control Trump disaster.”
Voters are feeling disappointed. Among voters’ frustrations are rising living costs and the Iran war, which has been going on for 7 months. The polls indicate that the Republican Party could lose its majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Trump, meanwhile, told supporters in Kansas on Monday, “If you go to the polls, we win,” and claimed without offering evidence that Democrats would cheat. He promised 5 thousand dollars to every adult citizen if Republicans win. According to Ipsos, most Americans do not believe Trump would accept the results if he loses.
Why it matters
The picture in the polls does not merely point to a popularity problem; the possibility that the Republican Party could lose its majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate opens the door to an outcome that could directly affect Trump’s legislative agenda for the remainder of his term. In a polarized landscape where nearly all Democrats are opposed and Republicans are largely supportive, the disapproval of two-thirds of independents shows that the middle ground capable of determining the outcome is drifting away. The fact that the decline is rooted in concrete issues such as living costs and the Iran war, which has been going on for seven months, suggests that this may not be a temporary fluctuation. The promise of 5 thousand dollars in Kansas and the claims of fraud offered without evidence, meanwhile, indicate that the campaign has shifted from winning over new voters to shoring up the base. The open question is how the legitimacy of election results will be safeguarded in a country where the majority believes Trump would not accept a possible defeat.