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 (6/7/19)
- Trump's current ratings: 44% approval
As President Trump meets with G-20 leaders in the hope of making progress with China on trade, his approval rating dipped a point from a week ago, though it’s been rather steady for a couple of months bouncing up or down by about a point. He remains near the high end of his average approval. That’s a strong sign for his re-election bid in the early going.
With the 2020 Democrats officially ushering in the primary cycle, more attention will be paid to the president’s performance and you’ll doubtlessly hear many hypothetical matchups going forward. Remember that for now, none of them are predictive and won’t be until the primary process has concluded. What is instructive is a president’s relative strength throughout the process. Presidential election cycles with incumbent presidents running for re-election are mostly a referendum on their performance.
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: 43%
- 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: 37%
- Schumer: 29%
What does that tell you about what’s really going on in this country? Pelosi trails President Trump’s approval by 7 points, the biggest gap thus far and Schumer by 15. It’s not exactly as though people are picking up what they’re putting down.
Looking at the direction of the country this week...
Where we stood on Inauguration Day:
- Right Direction: 30%
Today:
- Right Direction: 38%
That’s down a point this week. Overall though, we’re 8% collectively more optimistic than we were during the Obama administration.