Donald Trump’s approval rating has taken another hit, with a new poll showing the president underwater by a staggering 29 points as Republicans brace for November’s midterm elections.
The latest Economist/YouGov survey, released Monday, found just 33 percent of respondents approve of Trump’s job performance, while 62 percent disapprove.
That’s a brutal number for a president whose party is heading into an election where control of Congress is on the line.
And the trouble for Trump extends beyond his overall approval rating.
The poll found that Trump’s support remains overwhelmingly partisan. While 79 percent of Republicans approved of his performance, just 4 percent of Democrats did.
That leaves Trump with a deeply polarized electorate, and potentially vulnerable Republicans who will have to defend his record in November.
The numbers also fit a broader downward trend.
The Economist’s polling tracker, based on YouGov surveys, reported in June that Trump had reached a net approval rating of -25 points, making him the most unpopular president in the tracker’s history at that point.
Other recent polls aren’t exactly coming to the rescue.
A Reuters/Ipsos survey released last week put Trump’s approval at 35 percent, while a Quinnipiac University poll released in late July found his approval had fallen to 32 percent.
For Republicans, the timing couldn’t be worse.
The GOP is trying to hold onto control of both chambers of Congress in November, meaning Republican candidates will have to convince voters to stick with the party while Trump’s numbers continue to slide.
Two issues appear particularly problematic: the ongoing Iran war and the economy.
Voters have expressed significant concerns about affordability, while Trump’s handling of the international crisis has failed to win broad confidence.
The Economist/YouGov poll found that roughly 40 percent approved of Trump’s handling of immigration. But only 30 percent said they were confident in his ability to “deal wisely with an international crisis.”
Another warning sign came when voters were asked about Trump’s age.
Fifty-three percent said Trump is “too old” for the presidency, including 85 percent of Democrats and 17 percent of Republicans.
The survey was conducted Aug. 7–10 among 1,589 respondents and has a margin of error of approximately 3.2 percentage points.
The White House, unsurprisingly, rejected the gloomy picture.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle defended Trump’s record in a statement provided to The Hill, claiming that no president has accomplished more for working Americans and arguing that Trump’s policies are creating jobs, cooling inflation and improving housing affordability.
“The President has already made historic progress not only in America but around the world, and this is just the beginning as his agenda continues taking effect,” Ingle said.
But the polling trend is becoming increasingly difficult for the White House to ignore.
With November approaching, Republicans aren’t just campaigning on their own records. They are also facing a basic question from voters: **Do they want four more years of Trump’s agenda — or are they ready for something else?
Right now, these numbers suggest a sizable chunk of the electorate isn’t convinced.
