WorldUS politics
Trump's approval sinks to new lows in two polls as Democrats open a double-digit lead
With the midterm elections less than two weeks away, a New York Times/Siena survey puts the president at 36% and a CNN poll at 32%, with voters angry over prices and the Iran war.
Key points
- The New York Times/Siena poll put Trump's approval at 36%, its lowest for him.
- Democrats lead the congressional vote by 52% to 41% among likely voters.
- Some 69% disapprove of how Trump is handling the cost of living.
Donald Trump’s approval rating hit record lows in two polls released on Wednesday, with voters turning against him less than two weeks before the midterm elections on 3 November.
The final New York Times/Siena College national poll before the vote found that 36% of likely voters approve of the way Trump is doing his job and 59% disapprove. It is his lowest rating in that survey, two points down from September. A CNN/SSRS poll published the same day put his approval at 32%, also a record low for that series, and a Reuters/Ipsos survey released on Monday had it at 31%.
A lead for Democrats
The numbers matter most for the fight over Congress. In the Times/Siena poll, 52% of likely voters said they would back the Democrat in their district and 41% the Republican, an 11-point gap that is slightly wider than last month. CNN found Democrats ahead by 49% to 39%. The Times/Siena survey interviewed 3,494 likely voters between 12 and 19 October and has a margin of error of 1.9 points.
Independents have swung hard against the president: more than two-thirds disapprove of him. The poll also suggests Democrats have won back ground over the past year among men, young voters and Hispanic voters.
Prices and the war
The anger is about money and the war with Iran, now nearly eight months old. Among registered voters, 69% disapprove of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, 64% of his handling of the economy and 73% of his record on petrol prices, which stood above $4.25 a gallon on Wednesday. About 65% disapprove of the Iran war. Consumer prices rose 3.7% in the year to September.
There was no immediate comment from the White House.
Where the races are
Control of the Senate may hang on a handful of states where Democrats are trying to take Republican seats, among them Texas, Iowa, Alaska and Ohio. The Cook Political Report this week shifted its ratings for the Senate races in South Carolina and Mississippi towards the Democrats and the one in Minnesota towards the Republicans.
Voting is already well under way. More than 13 million Americans were reported to have cast ballots early by Wednesday, with Republican turnout lagging in some states.