President Donald Trumpâs nosedive in the polls is even worse than first realized.
The 80-year-oldâs approval rating has been in a tailspin since his return to the White House last year, despite the president constantly dismissing any negative numbers as âfake.â
During his first term at the Resolute Desk, Republicansâ fortunes in the 2018 midterms were widely regarded as a failure after losing control of the House, but drilling into the numbers, CNNâs data guru Harry Enten has suggested that this yearâs could be even worse.
âYou know, if this were a game of limbo, President Trump would be winning,â Enten said on Tuesday. âUnfortunately, this is the game of presidential popularity, and he is reaching record lows yet again. He is losing.
âTrump net approval hits a term-two low, 31 points underwater. 31 points underwater according to the Reuters Ipsos Poll. Look where he was at the beginning of term number two. He was at plus six points. So he is down⊠37 points from where he was at the beginning of his second presidency.
âPresident Trump was unpopular going into the midterms during his first presidency, but not anywhere as unpopular as this. He was 12 points underwater.
âHe is doing 19 points worse than he was doing in term number one at this point. And of course, those midterms were quite disastrous for the Republican Party. So you look at these numbers and you just go, âoy veyâ if youâre a Republican.â

Trump had -1 percent among independents when he was inaugurated last year, but since then that bloc has fallen off a cliff for him.
âRepublicans still in large part support Donald Trump, but itâs independents who are the name of the game, they are the driver in elections,â Enten said. âAnd just look at why these numbers are falling the way that they are. It is because of independents. Look at these drops. I mean, Trumpâs not operating among independents. Term two, heâs 47 points underwater nowâ47 points underwater.
âHe was at minus one point at the beginning of his presidency, basically treading water, right? So what is that? Thatâs a 46-point drop.
âSo you see that drop of 31 points from where he was at the beginning of his presidency or 37 points from where he was at the beginning of his presidency among the overall electorate, but thatâs nothing compared to this 46-point drop among independents.â
He also pointed out that Trump is in danger of blowing the Republicansâ poor 2018 midterms out of the water.
He revealed that in August 2018 his approval sat at -10 points among independents, which seems rosy compared to the -47 percent he is facing at the same point eight years on.

âAnd look at, compare that to where he was at this point in term number one before those midterms. Again, he was underwater then, but he was just 10 points underwater then. Now heâs 47 points underwater.
âYou have to win the center of the electorate in order to maintain your popularity, in order for Republicans to win in these midterm elections. But independents are saying, âYou know what? We donât like whatâs going on. See you later.ââ





