Trump’s approval is underwater in vast majority of states as Americans have had enough, new survey finds
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With the midterm elections just weeks away, President Donald Trump’s approval rating is underwater in a super-majority of states, according to new polling.
In a new state-by-state tracker from Civiqs, an online polling firm, more registered voters disapproved than approved of Trump’s job performance in 39 states.
The list includes Democratic strongholds like New York, California and Illinois, as well as some reliably Republican states such as Nebraska, Kentucky and Tennessee. In Texas, for instance, 57 percent of voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance, as do 54 percent in Florida.
Trump’s approval exceeded his disapproval in 11 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. All 11 states voted for him in the past three presidential elections.
The findings are just the latest indication that Trump’s support is eroding after mounting voter frustration over the cost of living and the Iran war — and that Republicans are at risk of losing their congressional majorities in the midterms.
Trump’s eroding support
In recent months, the president’s approval rating has hovered near historic lows. Public support for Trump fell to 32 percent in a Reuters/Ipsos survey released in late September — the lowest mark of his political career and below any approval rating recorded by Joe Biden.
“They don’t just dislike him,” CNN data analyst Harry Enten said on September 25. “There’s record hatred for the president of the United States going into a midterm.”
Trump has fared even worse on individual issues. An AP-NORC poll released this month found that just 17 percent of U.S. adults approve of his handling of the cost of living, while 26 percent approve of his handling of the economy.
The same poll found that 28 percent approve of his handling of the war with Iran, while 69 percent said the war has not been worth fighting.
The war has stretched on for seven months with no clear end in sight. It has led to the deaths of at least 18 service members, cost taxpayers over $30 billion and spiked fuel prices. On Wednesday, the national average cost for a gallon of gasoline stood at $4.36, up from $2.98 two days before the war broke out in February, according to AAA.
Midterm forecast
As support for Trump wanes, polls suggest Republicans could face a bruising midterm election, with control of both the House and Senate at stake.
Polls released by NBC News last month showed Democrats with a 9-point advantage over Republicans in the race for control of Congress, driven largely by independents favoring Democratic candidates ahead of November.
Some Republicans, meanwhile, have pointed out that polls predicting decisive victories for one party have been wrong in the past. Trump himself has recently described polls he opposes as “fake.” Last month, he wrote on Truth Social that the GOP would do “well” in the midterms and reminded his supporters to “pretend I am on the ballot.”
Still, in a recent analysis, polling expert Nate Silver wrote that the “cautious view” of pundits who describe the midterm race as close is becoming harder to justify.
“This cautious view is misaligned with the long history of strong opposition performance in midterm elections, especially when the incumbent president is as unpopular as Trump,” Silver wrote. “There’s not much longer to go…and both national polls and race-by-race polls have been extremely strong for Democrats since Labor Day.”
Democrats also appear poised to perform well outside of Congress. A recent Siena University survey found Democratic candidates leading their Republican rivals in gubernatorial contests in four red states: Ohio, Iowa, Texas and Alaska.
