Weekly political update – Where news & perceptions meet reality
Bottom Line: This is your weekly reality check. What's really going on with public opinion of the president and our view of the direction of the country? Here it is...
- Trump's lowest ratings: 37% approval (8/4/17)
- Trump highest approval ratings: 45% approval (5/10/19)
- Trump's current ratings: 45% approval
Let’s play a little perception vs reality game at the onset. Are President Trump’s average approval ratings near or at an all-time high, all-time low or somewhere in the middle? If you guessed an all-time high, you’d be right. With an average rating at just over 45% - he’s performing as well generally as he has to date. This continues to confirm something I’ve been suggesting in recent weeks. The more President Trump fights for the interests of Americans, issues that led to him being elected in the first place, the better he performs. While many in news media will attempt to hammer him and spin the tales of woe over the trade wars with China and Mexico – it's clear than many are glad he’s fighting the fight he promised.
It’s been the case throughout his term thus far, that the more informed and engaged someone is politically, the more likely they are to approve of President Trump. That remains the case once again this week.
- Adult only samples averaged: N\A
- Registered voters: 45%
- Likely voters: 50%
What you never hear reported are the ratings of the Democratic leaders opposing him. Let’s just say they’d need a huge push of support to simply catch President Trump’s approval ratings. Here’s the latest...
- Pelosi: 38%
- Schumer: 27%
What does that tell you about what’s really going on in this country? Pelosi trails President Trump’s approval by eight points and Schumer by 19! It’s not exactly as though people are picking up what they’re putting down. It also continues to explain why there’s as little support for impeachment as there is across the country.
Looking at the direction of the country this week...
Where we stood on Inauguration Day:
- Right Direction: 30%
Today:
- Right Direction: 39%
That’s up two points this week, once again illustrating the disconnect between most news media, Democrats and us. We are 9% collectively more optimistic than we were during the Obama administration.