Republican voters increasingly think Donald Trump can’t get the basic business of running the U.S. government right, a poll shows.
There is mounting dissatisfaction within the base over the president’s handling of the federal government amid what became the longest shutdown on record, the new survey found.
According to the poll, Republican backing for Trump’s management of the government has slipped by a whopping 13 points, from 81 percent in March down to just 68 percent as of the start of this month.
There’s also been a sharp decline in independents who assume a positive view on that front, dropping from 38 to 25 percent over the same period. Democratic approval has similarly inched down from an already-tiny nine to five percent.
The poll’s timing is salient. Trump and his allies have sought to firmly blame their opponents across the aisle for the six-week shutdown—the longest in U.S. history. It is estimated to have cost the U.S. economy up to $14 billion for each week it has lasted so far.
Results of the survey, and others over the past few weeks, suggest those efforts have backfired. Another poll late last month found more than half think the GOP is responsible, compared to just 33 percent who blame Democrats.
The survey by AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs also found the president’s overall approval ratings now stand at just 36 percent, only two points above the lowest ever score, recorded in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, which Trump was later accused and acquitted of instigating.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for a response on the new findings.
