As Donald Trump prepares to head to Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday for his first campaign rally in months, a new poll shows that the vast majority of Americans — including Republicans — think the nation is headed in the wrong direction under his leadership as president.
According to the latest AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs poll, a startling 63 percent of those who identify as Republican say the country is on the wrong track. And the poll also shows that most Americans think Trump is the reason for the divisions seen across the United States:
“With less than five months until Election Day, the survey offers few bright spots for a president confronting a historic pandemic, a sharp economic decline and national outrage over police brutality against black people. Most Americans — including 63% of Republicans — say the country is heading in the wrong direction. And close to two-thirds — including 37% of Republicans — say Trump is making America more divided.
“‘Instead of bringing us all together, he’s pulling us all apart,’ said Donna Oates, a 63-year-old retiree from Chino, California.”
Oates has even gone so far as to change her voter registration:
“She was a Republican until March, when her mounting frustration with Trump and the GOP prompted her to change her voter registration to the Democratic Party. Trump’s tenure, she said, has made her ‘dread getting up to turn on the TV and see any of the news.'”
Here’s a closer look inside the AP-NORC poll, which has bad news across the board for Trump.
Trump Fails On COVID-19
The coronavirus pandemic remains at the forefront of people’s minds, and they’re not the least bit impressed with the president’s tepid response to it:
“Overall, 37% of Americans say they approve of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak — a dip from 44% in March.”
Trump’s Approval Rating Drops Again
Once again, Trump’s approval rating has dipped, falling from 43 percent to 39 percent over the course of a month. Trump’s approval rating stood at 56 percent in March, before the the national shutdown for the virus and massive job losses in the economy, which continues to struggle, with many jobs in the hospitality industry being eliminated.
Making Things Worse
Respondents were asked how they felt Trump had done since the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis. Once again, the president is seen as only making matters worse rather than uniting the nation.
54 percent said Trump has made things worse since Floyd’s death, with only 12 percent saying he has made things better.
Increasing Division
The majority of the electorate — 64 percent — say Trump’s presidency has made the country more divided, with only 12 percent saying he’s helped to unite the American people.
That view is especially strong among African-American respondents, with 9 in 10 telling pollsters they disapprove of the job Trump has done as president. Among whites, only 37 percent say they approve of the job Trump has done on the issue of race relations.
The bottom line from the AP-NORC poll is that Trump is the most unpopular president in 40 years, and voters have little to no confidence in his ability to solve the problems which confront the country. All the campaign rallies in the world aren’t going to change that.