By Sumayya
US President Donald Trump’s popularity rating dropped to an all-time low as Americans worried about high fuel costs and seemed set to punish his Republican Party in the November 3 congressional elections, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that ended on Monday.
The four-day survey showed that only 31% of Americans approve of Trump’s work in office, which is down by one percent from two weeks ago and stands as the lowest level in either of his presidential terms. When asked which party they would vote for if the congressional votes were held today, about 47% of registered voters across the country picked the Democrats, while 35% chose the Republicans.
This 12-point advantage for the Democrats is the widest lead seen during this entire election cycle, and it could boost Democratic hopes of taking over control of both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate. For the Republicans, losing control of either part of Congress could make it much harder for Trump to carry out his plans during the final two years of his term. These general voting polls are nationwide checks that give a broad view of which political party people want to see running things in Congress. While these checks show general public feelings across the country, they do not show all the specific details of the state-by-state and district-by-district races that actually decide who wins the Senate and House, where Republicans still hold some structural advantages.
A similar Reuters/Ipsos poll from two weeks earlier showed Democrats leading Republicans by 7 points, with 44% compared to 37%. A big reason for this drop in support for Republican politicians was that a larger number of women stated they would choose the Democrats. About 50% of female voters said they would vote for the Democratic Party, compared to 32% who were looking at Republican options. Men also preferred the Democrats, but by a smaller difference.
Trump’s popularity has dropped since he ordered military attacks on Iran in February alongside US partner Israel. That war caused a big jump in gasoline prices, hurting everyday family budgets. Around 68% of Americans do not like how Trump is handling the economy, including 37% of people who call themselves Republicans. Furthermore, voters in the poll picked Democrats over Republicans as the better team to look after the economy, by 40% to 33%. This online study gathered answers from 1,679 US adults, which included 1,279 registered voters. The poll’s findings had a margin of error of 2 percentage points for all people asked and 3 percentage points for the registered voters.
