TEFLON DON: Trump's Approval Ratings Soar Despite Russia Meeting

According to a brand new Rasmussen poll, President Trump’s approval numbers have now climbed back to 46%, near the highest of his presidency. And all the other polls have now reflected the bump: the NBC/WSJ poll over the weekend shows Trump at an all-time high of 45%. That poll also showed that just 53% of Republicans approved of Trump’s behavior at his meeting with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Helsinki — but that didn’t matter much to their overall approval of him, which is nearly universal (88%).

What’s bolstering Trump’s high approval rating? The NBC/WSJ poll suggests that Trump’s economic record is his biggest asset: 50% of Americans like the way he’s handling the economy. 51% dislike the way he has handled Putin overall, 58% disapprove of his immigration policy, and 53% disapprove of his tariff policy.

But there’s something else that has happened, too: Trump’s approval rating has been remarkably stable since long before he was president. He began his presidency at nearly the same number he now occupies; during the election cycle, he hovered in the low-40s as well. News coverage simply doesn’t touch Trump, because everything is baked in. There’s nobody in America who doesn’t have a personal opinion or take on Trump. He’s become the political equivalent of the Super Bowl: the thing everybody watches and talks about.

And that means that new information doesn’t change the math.

What does change, however, is the impact Trump has on Congressional elections. Republicans aren’t nearly as priced-in as Trump. That means that when Trump does something unpopular, Congressional Republicans bear the brunt in the polls. So, for example, at the beginning of June, before the latest round of hubbub, Democrats led Republicans in the generic ballot by 3 points; now that number is 7.4%, according to RealClearPolitics.

That’s actually not unique to Trump. President Obama retained high approval ratings throughout his time in office, because everyone had an opinion about him. But his actions reflected far more on his Congressional Democrats than on Obama himself, which is why Democrats experienced heavy losses across the country. All of which suggests that some caution is in order before Republicans declare victory thanks to Trump’s solid approval ratings: the variability in our national polls no longer seems to apply to presidential approval ratings nearly as much as to Congressional approval ratings. That’s because we’ve now used the presidency as a proxy for all of our partisanship, and we seem to reserve our more nuanced political judgment for Congressional races, where the stakes of going out to vote are lower and seemingly less fraught.

Post Comment

Comments (20)

Only Republicans would call lower than average for a president "soaring". rolling on the floor laughing
Talk about putting lipstick on a pig. laugh
Yes, Trump's astonishingly bad performance in Helsinki made no difference to some Republicans,
because they have literally lost their minds and are no longer accountable.
I'm very sure it was a popular knowledge about how his color or race affected all our dealings with him.
That's really funny Mic.
Trump has the worst approval ratings of any of the most recent seven presidents, according to Gallup. Don't get too excited. cheering
Tall,

That is what you find in fake news!
Ovetime even Teflon wears out.
Bear

Too true...look at the Italian mafia man...jailed for killimg...his name was also Teflon Don...laugh
Holy Moly,Nurse Ratched is in the House!rolling on the floor laughing
You raise an interesting point, bear - Time.
Time moves along. Things change. They always do.

I was discussing the economy & The Don with uber-libs.
The U.S. economy IS booming.
Like never before, according to many accounts.
Everything's looking up.

O.K.
But time moves on. Things change. They have before.
The stock market boomed in the '20s. It crashed in '29
The housing market boomed in the '90s - 00s. It melted down in '08.

Those specific things boomed. Then went bust.
And eventually took the economy with them.

BUT -
If EVERYthing is booming now...Will EVERYthing eventuality..uh oh....blues

Mind you, it wouldn't necessarily be the result of The Don and/or his policies.
Just time moving on. And things changing. As they do.

The uber-libs almost seemed to be hoping(!) it'll happen - so The Don will get blamed.

confused

cowboy
Hi miclee as you say time passes and things may not happen while Trump's in office.Things could fall apart while someone else is at the helm.Don't know.

The stocks Could go up and down.The economy Could go up and down.Etc etc etc.
Tall,

That is what you find in fake news!


I guess for you any news you don't like is fake news.
handshake bear.

What goes up can can go down.
Bubbles burst.

cowboy
michlee You bet.handshake
lindsy Never mind I just found out the meaning.wow
Tall, that was actually one of her more mature responses rolling on the floor laughing
Yes Tall.

Lol...
POLITIFACT?rolling on the floor laughing
Trump continually is underestimated. Meanwhile main stream media gets it wrong over and over again.
Update: In the midst of the
border crisis it's interesting to note that a recent poll has the latino approval rating increasing from 31% to 50%.
I don't give much license to polls but an increase of 19% is substantial and at the very minimum noteworthy.

cool
Post Comment - Let others know what you think about this Blog.
Meet the Author of this Blog
Willy3411

Willy3411

Lawton, Oklahoma, USA

Retired old guy. Loves sports, music, and karaoke. Not shy about singing.Love to travel. Love to go to beaches and warm weather outdoor events. U.S. Air Force Veteran. I am here for the blogs. I am an amputee. My lower leg is gone.

Any messages se [read more]