Trump's approval is circling the toilet. I'm delighted. | Opinion
It seems Donald Trump would make a better plumber than a president – his poll numbers are so far down the toilet they’re touching porcelain.
In a wave of new polling showing the width and breadth of Trump’s unpopularity, a Quinnipiac University national poll released July 29 found Trump with a 32% approval rating, an all-time low from that particular pollster.
Earlier that same day, CNN reported on a new CNN/SSRS poll, noting: “Trump’s overall approval rating, 34%, matches the career low he last saw at the close of his first term, following the January 6, 2021, insurrection.”
Do you know how bad things have to be for you to hit an “as bad as that time I fomented an insurrection” level of disapproval? Trump didn’t even need to coax his followers into ransacking the U.S. Capitol this time around. He just earned this striking level of disapproval organically. Part of me feels like we should congratulate him. It shows real growth when a tin-pot dictator learns to be loathed all on his own.
A new Economist/YouGov poll released July 28 found Trump has a record-low net job approval of -28, with 34% of Americans approving of his performance and 62% disapproving. He’s 53 points underwater among independents, and a whopping 43% of Republicans who identify as “non-MAGA” disapprove of him.
It’s all a bit confusing, since Trump is constantly saying the country is doing great and envisioning his own face on Mount Rushmore.
Maybe it’s the foolhardy war he started with Iran and the associated high gas prices. Or maybe it’s the food prices he never lowered.
It could be the fact that measles cases are at a 35-year high and thousands of Americans have explosive diarrhea while the kook in charge of the U.S. health department is busy trying to do away with vaccines.
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Whatever the specific reason or reasons, Trump is turning voters’ stomachs faster than the growing cyclosporiasis outbreak.
Speaking of which, the Quinnipiac poll found that 55% of Americans aren’t confident in the government’s food safety oversight. I can’t imagine why that is.
Nearly 70% of Americans, according to the Quinnipiac poll, think Trump isn’t focusing on the issues that matter to Americans.
Perhaps that's because about the time that survey was released, Trump was in the Oval Office bragging about a $22.5 billion renovation of Washington Dulles International Airport while also noting the importance of his Washington, DC, vanity projects, like a triumphal arch and, of course, his White House ballroom: “I think the arch is gonna be incredible. I think the protected ballroom and military center that we're building at the White House is gonna be unbelievable. It's very important.”
Finger on the pulse, folks. Sorry you can’t afford to buy meat.
In the CNN/SSRS poll, 65% of Americans think Trump’s policies have made economic conditions worse.
Going back to the Quinnipiac poll, we find Trump underwater on every key issue:
MAGA enthusiasts and Trump bootlickers can spin these numbers as numerical tyranny or denounce math as a form of socialist extremism all they want. But denial shouldn’t be of much help to a Republican Party waltzing into November's midterm elections with a president who’s about as popular as tainted lettuce.
So allow me to remind everyone, for the one-thousandth time: This is what Republicans wanted. They wanted Trump; most still back him, and most would vote for him again. It doesn’t matter how many wars or how much diarrhea we’re dealing with; this is the golden boy they believed would usher in a golden age.
The blah-blah Trump promised was never going to happen, it hasn’t happened, and it won’t happen. But that won’t stop GOP lawmakers and pundits from telling Americans not to believe their eyes, or to fear some ginned-up wave of communism.
The polling right now shows the reality of Republicans’ failure and inability to govern. It shows a presidency circling the toilet.
Between now and the midterms, it will be up to voters to not get bamboozled by right-wing rhetoric. And to be smart enough to give the bowl one last flush.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's approval is circling the toilet. I'm delighted. | Opinion