For those hoping to see the public rally behind President Donald Trump as his presidency nears the 100-day benchmark, I have some bad news: Public opinion seems to be turning sharply against the Republican incumbent.
The latest national CNN poll, for example, found the president’s approval rating down to 41%, which led to a straightforward headline: “Trump’s approval at 100 days lower than any president in at least seven decades.” Two national surveys released in recent days — an Associated Press poll and a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll — found the president’s support dipping below 40%.
The latest New York Times/Siena College poll found the president’s approval rating dipping to 42%, and the Times’ Nate Cohn noted in an accompanying analysis, “You would be hard pressed to find a single ‘good’ number for Mr. Trump in the survey.”
It’s an important detail: The latest numbers suggest that most Americans not only disapprove of the way Trump is handling his responsibilities, they also disagree with the president’s agenda, his priorities, and even the speed with which he’s trying to impose radical change.
Making matters worse for Trump, there’s no reason to believe a comeback is imminent. The data suggests much of the public has not yet felt the direct impact of the White House’s tariffs, for example. And once the consequences of the administration’s trade policies start affecting Americans’ lives and wallets, it’s easy to imagine Trump’s floor sinking further.
For his part, Trump has seen the shift in public attitudes, and he’s ready to reassess the direction of his failing presidency.
No, I’m just kidding. He’s actually lashing out at pollsters in new and ridiculous ways. Newsweek noted:
President Donald Trump has said pollsters that have shown his approval ratings sliding in recent weeks should be investigated for “election fraud.” Trump cited recent polls from The New York Times, ABC News/The Washington Post, and Fox News, which put his approval rating on 42 percent, 39 percent, and 44 percent respectively.
As this week got underway, Trump, shortly before sunrise, published an item to his social media platform that read, “We don’t have a Free and Fair ‘Press’ in this Country anymore. We have a Press that writes BAD STORIES, and CHEATS, BIG, ON POLLS. IT IS COMPROMISED AND CORRUPT. SAD!”
That came shortly on the heels of a related item, in which he lashed out at “FAKE POLLS FROM FAKE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS.” The president added, “These people should be investigated for ELECTION FRAUD, and add in the FoxNews Pollster while you’re at it.”
The Republican went on to describe the pollsters (and presumably the news organizations that commissioned the polls) as “Negative Criminals,” who should be seen as “SICK.”
The hysterics were not altogether surprising. Trump did, after all, sue The Des Moines Register for publishing the results of a poll he didn’t like. So it stands to reason that he’d freak out in response to an avalanche of survey data showing his fading popularity. But to the extent that reality has any bearing on this discussion, there are a few things to keep in mind here. The first is that there is no conspiracy: Polls show Trump struggling because Trump is failing and much of the public has noticed. Second, the basis of the president’s weird conspiracy theory is absurd on its face: Pollsters can’t be engaged in “election interference” when there is no election, and the politician in question can’t run for re-election. (Even if there were an election, of course, there’s nothing improper about releasing public opinion research that one party doesn’t like.) Third, and most importantly, some might feel the temptation to simply shrug off Trump’s call for an investigation into “criminal” polling, but given recent events, that seems inherently risky. This president has already a demonstrated a willingness to direct the Justice Department to go after his perceived foes, and there’s no reason to assume he’ll abandon these authoritarian-style tactics anytime soon. Postscript: For information on the aforementioned polls’ methodologies and margins of error, click on any of the above links.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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