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With
Approval
at 31
Percent,
Trump
Campaigning
in
Alabama,
Oklahoma
and
Texas
Marc
Kennedy
-
National-Politics
Tell Us
USA News
Network
MOBILE,
Ala. –
Donald
Trump
spent
this
week
doing
something
no
president
with a
healthy
approval
rating
needs to
do:
flying
to the
safest
places
in
America
to ask
for
help.
Three
days
into a
month-long
campaign
blitz,
the
president
has
visited
Texas,
Oklahoma
and
Alabama,
states
he
carried
comfortably
and that
Republicans
have not
seriously
worried
about in
a
generation.
He is
making
the trip
with the
worst
polling
of his
second
term and
a party
that is
increasingly
nervous
about
keeping
control
of
Congress.
The
numbers
are hard
to spin.
The
latest
Associated
Press-NORC
poll has
his
approval
at 31
percent,
with 69
percent
disapproving.
The New
York
Times
found 37
percent
viewing
him
favorably
and 61
percent
unfavorably.
Aggregate
averages
sit in
the high
30s.
There is
a lone
outlier,
Rasmussen,
which
has him
at 44
percent
favorable,
but it
is a
long way
from the
52
percent
approval
in the
Times
average
when he
started
this
term.
The
damage
traces
to one
place:
the
pocketbook.
Just 26
percent
of
Americans
in the
AP-NORC
survey
approve
of his
handling
of the
economy,
an
all-time
low, and
a mere
17
percent
approve
of how
he is
handling
the cost
of
living.
Nearly
two-thirds
blame
him
personally
for
prices
that
will not
come
down,
and a
majority
say they
are
worse
off
financially
than
before
he took
office.
Analysts
point to
tariff-driven
inflation
and warn
of
stagflation.
Voters
name the
cost of
living
as their
top
midterm
concern,
and on
that
question
they are
not
giving
him the
benefit
of the
doubt.
What
should
worry
the
White
House
more is
the
erosion
at home.
Trump's
approval
among
Republicans
has slid
from 89
percent
to 75
percent
since
April of
last
year.
Among
those
who
voted
for him
in 2024,
it has
dropped
ten
points.
A
plurality
of
voters
say he
is
making
it
harder
for
Republicans
to win
in
November,
and a
similar
share
say his
endorsement
would
make
them
less
likely
to
support
a
candidate.
For a
president
who has
built
his
party
around
his
personal
brand,
that is
a
striking
turn.
So why
Oklahoma
and
Alabama?
Asked on
Thursday,
Trump
said it
was to
thank
states
that are
with him
"1,000%."
Republican
officials
insist
the
choice
is
strategic.
One GOP
source
told The
Hill the
stops
were
picked
for
their
reach
into the
Texas
and
Florida
media
markets
and are
no sign
that
those
races
are in
danger.
A former
Trump
campaign
strategist
told Fox
News
Digital
that
critics
are
misreading
the tour
and that
big
rallies
in
deep-red
states
still
earn
national
coverage
and can
pull up
turnout
in
competitive
districts.
Independent
analysts
see
something
else.
Political
scientist
Chandler
James
said the
itinerary
suggests
Trump is
being
deployed
to rally
the
base,
not to
persuade
the
voters
who
decide
elections.
That is
a
telling
concession.
Candidates
do not
retreat
to their
strongest
ground
unless
their
opponents
are
contesting
the
rest.
Democrats
say as
much,
arguing
that the
party is
playing
defense
in
territory
it
should
be
taking
for
granted.
Senate
races in
places
like
Alaska
and
Iowa,
reliably
Republican
for
years,
are now
in play,
which
suggests
the
worry is
not
confined
to the
swing
states.
The
itinerary
does
reach
into
tougher
terrain.
Ohio is
on the
schedule,
as is
Nebraska,
where
rising
energy
prices
threaten
Republicans
in
agriculture-heavy
country.
Iowa and
Alaska
are
expected
too. The
scope of
the tour
has been
described
differently
by
different
officials,
with
Trump
himself
talking
about a
32-day
push and
the
party
citing
35
competitive
races,
and the
schedule
is
subject
to
change.
The
White
House is
betting
that the
president's
presence
can
still
energize
voters
who show
up for
him and
for no
one
else.
That may
be true.
But the
polling
suggests
the base
that
once
could be
taken
for
granted
is no
longer a
sure
thing,
and the
cost-of-living
anger
that is
dragging
him down
will not
fade
because
he gets
a warm
welcome
in
Mobile.
Election
Day is
about a
month
away.
The
president
is going
where he
is
loved.
The
question
for
Republicans
on the
ballot
is
whether
love in
the
reddest
states
is
enough,
and the
numbers
suggest
they are
right to
be
worried.
This
Tell Us
USA News
Network
report
is
produced
in part
by Ai
and can
make
mistakes.
Please
contact
and let
us know
of any
errors
you may
find.
info@tellususa.com
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