AP-NORC Poll: Just 24 per cent say U.S. heading right direction
Just 24 per cent of Americans believe the country is heading in the right direction after a tumultuous stretch for President Donald Trump that included the threat of war with North Korea, stormy complaints about hurricane relief and Trump’s equivocating about white supremacists. That’s a 10-point drop since June, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The decline in optimism about the nation’s trajectory is particularly pronounced among Republicans. In June, 60 per cent of Republicans said the country was headed in the right direction; now it’s just 44 per cent.
The broader picture for the president is grim, too. Nearly 70 per cent of Americans say Trump isn’t level-headed, and majorities say he’s not honest or a strong leader. More than 60 per cent disapprove of how he is handling race relations, foreign policy and immigration, among other issues.
Overall, 67 per cent of Americans disapprove of the job Trump is doing in office, including about one-third of Republicans.
Tracy Huelsman, a 40-year-old from Louisville, Kentucky, is among them. A self-described moderate Republican, Huelsman said she’s particularly concerned about the “divisiveness” she feels the president promotes on social media.
“It’s scary in 2017 that we are in what seems like a worse place in terms of division,” said Huelsman, who did not vote for Trump in last year’s election.
The assessments come after a turbulent summer for Trump that included a major White House shake-up, bringing the departure of his chief of staff, top strategist and press secretary. While the installment of retired Marine Gen. John Kelly as chief of staff has ushered in more day-to-day order in the West Wing, the president has still stirred up numerous controversies, including when he blamed “both sides” for the clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Trump has also raised the spectre of a military conflict with North Korea over its nuclear provocations. He’s derided North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, as “rocket man,” including during a speech at the United Nations, and has downplayed the prospects that diplomatic negotiations with Kim could yield results.
Despite his electoral success, Trump struggled as both a candidate and now as president to broaden his base of support beyond his ardent supporters. The loyalty of his core backers has been enough to keep Republican lawmakers largely in line, but party operatives are closely watching Trump’s support among GOP and independent voters ahead of next year’s midterm elections, when the balance of power in Congress will be at stake.
To be sure, lawmakers have their own problems to worry about. Americans have even less esteem for Congress than Trump, with just 18 per cent saying they approve of the job being done by the House and the Senate.
Republicans took another hit last month when they failed — for a second time this year — to pass an overhaul of the nation’s health care law. GOP leaders tried to rush votes on the complicated legislation, leaving many voters unsure of what was in the package.