Donald Trump absolutely loves to brag about how popular he is with the Republican electorate. And he often will tweet out some new poll that he claims proves how beloved he is among the GOP faithful, even though Republicans are only part of the full voting public that will decide whether or not he gets a second term in office.
For example, on Saturday Trump couldn’t resist posting that he had a 96 percent approval rating among Republicans:
Wow! 96% Approval Rating in the Republican Party (and I believe this was before the “GREAT” Jobs Numbers yesterday). Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2020
Be sure and note that Trump didn’t include a link to the poll he was referencing. He almost never does. Guess we’re just supposed to take his word for it even though he lies more often than he breathes.
But a new Gallup poll has some incredibly frightening news for the president, who has lost seven points in recent weeks among voters who identify themselves as Republicans:
“Trump’s latest job approval rating fell significantly among all party groups, and by similar margins among each. This includes drops of seven percentage points among Republicans (to 85%) and independents (to 39%), and nine points among Democrats (to 5%).
“Republicans’ approval of Trump is the lowest it has been since September 2018 (also 85%).”
That 85 percent is also a new low for 2020. So Trump is losing significant ground with GOP voters and the election is getting closer each day.
There’s also some very dark omens for Trump when it comes to how he’s doing on his signature issue, the economy:
“Forty-seven percent of Americans approve of President Trump’s handling of the economy, a decline from 63% in January and 58% in February. Approval of Trump’s handling of the economy had not been under 50% since November 2017, when 45% approved.”
This kind of erosion in support has all the hallmarks of an electoral death spiral.
Let’s say that over the next five months Trump loses another 5 percent of Republicans, leaving him at 80 percent support among his own party. (And at this rate, five percent over the next five months is a very conservative estimate). He won’t be getting crossover votes from Democrats this time (that much you can count on), and independents are also abandoning him. That leaves him with nowhere to turn for the votes he needs to win either the popular or electoral vote.
Ever since he took office, Trump has catered to the conservative base of the GOP, appointing extreme right-wing federal judges, attacking women and people of color, and spinning bizarre conspiracy theories about the “deep state” that wants to see him lose.
But the only person responsible for the fact that voters are turning their backs on Donald Trump is Donald Trump himself. He is his own worst enemy, and as Rick Wilson has noted more than once, “Everything Donald Trump touches dies.” That would appear to include his 2020 campaign.
Good riddance, #BunkerBoy!