President Donald Trump’s standing with Republicans has hit a record low as support inside his own party slumps amid growing voter frustration over the economy and the Iran war.
Trump’s support within the GOP has fallen to 78 percent, his lowest level on record, according to a CNN poll conducted by SSRS from July 23 to 27 and published Wednesday.
Republican enthusiasm for the remainder of Trump’s second term has also fallen sharply, with just 19 percent saying they are enthusiastic about the next two years of the second Trump administration, down from 38 percent last spring.
The poll paints a bleak picture for Trump, 80, as the midterm elections approach. His overall approval rating stands at 34 percent, matching the low he reached at the end of his first term following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Half of Americans strongly disapprove of the president, while a record low 15 percent strongly approve of his performance.
Trump is scrambling to restore confidence in his administration as voters grow increasingly pessimistic about the economy ahead of the November elections.
A record high 73 percent of Americans say Trump has not paid enough attention to the country’s most pressing issues, while just 27 percent say he has had the right priorities.
The findings come as public concern mounts over the economic fallout from the conflict between the U.S. and Iran. The fighting has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply normally passes, pushing fuel prices higher.
Trump previously acknowledged the economic risks posed by the conflict, telling reporters at the G7 summit in France in June: “I didn’t want to see economic catastrophe. If you kept this going, that could have happened.”
“The one president I did not want to be was the late, great Herbert Hoover,” Trump went on, referring to the U.S president widely blamed for the Great Depression following the 1929 stock market crash.
He added that without a deal with Itan, the market “would go down at levels that nobody ever saw before, maybe except for 1929.”
Just 28 percent approve of Trump’s handling of the Iran conflict, while only 25 percent approve of his handling of inflation and 21 percent approve of his handling of gas prices, marking his weakest ratings on the three issues.
Roughly two-thirds of Americans say Trump’s economic and military policies have worsened economic conditions and hurt the country.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents say rising gas prices have caused them at least some hardship, up from 63 percent in March, while 71 percent say Trump has not done enough to lower the costs of everyday goods, up from 58 percent this time last year.
Previously contacted by the Daily Beast for comment, White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement: “President Trump has always been clear about the fact that oil and gas prices—and thus overall inflation—will rapidly drop as soon as the Iran situation is resolved.
“Prior to the start of Operation Epic Fury, American workers had recovered almost half of the real wage losses they experienced under Joe Biden thanks to this Administration’s commonsense agenda of deregulation, tax cuts, and energy abundance—an agenda that the Administration continues to implement to deliver more economic relief for the American people.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for additional comment.
