PPP’s newest national poll finds that at the midway point of Donald Trump’s term as President, he’s a clear underdog for reelection.
Trump gets just 41 or 42% in head to head match ups against 7 likely Democratic candidates for President. He trails Joe Biden 53-41, Bernie Sanders 51-41, Kamala Harris 48-41, Beto O’Rourke 47-41, Elizabeth Warren 48-42, and Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand each 47-42.
Trump’s low 40s support for reelection essentially tracks with his approval numbers. Only 40% of voters approve of the job he’s doing to 57% who disapprove.
The shutdown situation is not doing anything to help Trump’s cause. Only 35% of voters agree with Trump that the government should be kept closed until he gets funding for the wall to 60% who disagree. 57% think Congress should vote today to reopen the government without funding the wall, to 38% who are opposed. 55% of voters pin the blame for the shutdown on Trump and the Republicans in Congress to 43% who blame the Democrats in Congress. And on a related note about who’s coming out ahead in the shutdown, voters say they’d prefer to have either Chuck Schumer (46-41) or Nancy Pelosi (47-44) over Trump as President.
As the Russia investigation heats up, 45% of voters think Trump has committed crimes since he began running for President to 41% who don’t think he has. And if the Mueller investigation does find that Trump committed a crime 61% think he should be indicted and prosecuted in the courts, to just 30% who disagree. Already there is 46% support for impeachment, to 44% of voters who are opposed.
Trump has tried over the course of his Presidency to use the media as a foil, much as he did with Hillary Clinton during his campaign. It’s not particularly working though- voters trust CBS more than him 52/38, trust NBC and the Washington Post more 51/38, trust ABC and the New York Times more 51/39, and trust CNN more 49/39.
Trump promised to ‘Make America Great Again.’ Just 38% of voters think he has delivered on that promise to 55% who say he has not. That may be related to the finding that only 38% of voters say their personal economic situation is better than it was two years ago with 60% saying it is either worse (28%) or has just stayed the same (32%).
55% of voters still want to see Trump’s tax returns, to 38% who don’t think he needs to release them. 35% think Trump is honest, 55% say he is not.
Finally, we asked voters to put Trump’s Presidency so far in historic context. 44% say Trump is the worst President of the last 40 years to 31% for Barack Obama with no one else polling in double digits. Obama wins when it comes to who voters say is the best President of the last 40 years with 31% to 26% for Ronald Reagan, 15% for Trump, and 11% for Bill Clinton. 53% of voters wish Obama was still President, to 43% for Trump. And 49% of voters wish Hillary Clinton was President instead, to 43% for Trump.
Full results here
