As last week got underway, Donald Trump described an alternate reality he clearly preferred to the one we live in. In a post published to his social media platform, the Republican president described a political landscape in which he’s “getting the best Polling Numbers” of his career, thanks to public satisfaction with the economy and “rapidly falling Energy prices.”
The claims appeared delusional, especially given public dissatisfaction with the state of the economy and recent increases in energy costs, but in the days that followed, Trump did what he always does: repeat nonsensical claims in the hope that public perception can be bullied into submission.
“I have the best poll numbers I’ve ever had,” he told reporters last week. “I have the best numbers for any president in many years — any president,” he added two days later.
Whether the president genuinely believes such claims is anyone’s guess, but the latest statistical evidence makes his absurdities appear even more ridiculous. CNN, for example, reported on the results of its latest national survey:
Trump’s approval rating in the poll stands at 37%, the worst of his second term in CNN polling and roughly equivalent to his 36% approval rating at this point in his first term. And his disapproval rating, at 63%, is numerically the highest of either term, one point above the previous high of 62% as he was leaving office in January 2021.
To be sure, this is just one poll among many, but The New York Times created an online feature that charts the president’s average approval rating, based on data from publicly available national surveys. As of this writing, Trump’s disapproval rating stands at 55% — the worst of his second term — while his approval rating is 43%, which is tied for the lowest point since his second inaugural.
Put another way, Trump’s support isn’t just sinking, it’s also reached a new low for the year, and it’s reached depths no other modern incumbent has seen at this point in their presidency.
The Republican responded to the news by whining about “fake” data that’s been released by news organizations engaged in an elaborate conspiracy that only he understands. Trump again added that he currently has “the Best Numbers” of his career. He attributed his imaginary popularity to his success in ending “eight wars” (that didn’t happen), creating “the Greatest Economy in the History of our Country” (that also didn’t happen), keeping “Inflation” down (that also didn’t happen) and “setting standards for Right Track/Wrong Track” numbers (that also didn’t happen).
He has not, however, echoed his call from April for an investigation into pollsters that release results he disapproves of.
The larger question, however, isn’t limited to whether the president’s relationship with reality has been fractured. Just as notable is what his GOP allies intend to do with the facts. A few weeks ago, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer boasted during an appearance on Fox Business that Trump is “only getting more popular,” even as Trump grew less popular. The Minnesota Republican has plenty of company: Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California also recently told Fox Business that Trump’s approval rating “couldn’t be higher!” Similarly, Rep. Byron Donalds, a leading Republican gubernatorial candidate in Florida, told Fox News that the president is “riding high with all-time high approval numbers.” Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio insisted to CNN that Trump has “never been more popular.” House Speaker Mike Johnson declared on CNBC over the summer that he saw a poll that showed the president’s approval rating at 90%. The partywide rhetoric is obviously foolish, but it speaks to a larger point: Trump can’t run again, but congressional Republicans can. The lower the president’s support sinks, the more the GOP confronts a question about what to do with reality-based data: Do they start to distance themselves from a woefully unpopular president, or do they continue to join Trump in playing make-believe and take their chances with a dissatisfied electorate?
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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