GOP Consumers Souring On Trump’s Economy As Midterms Loom

A drop in Republican consumer sentiment in August coincided with a noticeable decline in enthusiasm from President Donald Trump’s supporters over his job performance.

The University of Michigan’s August consumer sentiment reading showed a steep decline among Republican consumers who continued to bear the economic fallout from the Iran war. YouGov polling released Tuesday showed Republican voters were less enthusiastic about Trump’s job performance, an indicator that could lead to lower turnout for Republican candidates in November’s midterm election.

Trump’s return to the White House was fueled in large part by his promise to lower prices and improve the economy. But persistent inflation, elevated fuel prices and the economic strain caused by the Iran war were squeezing household budgets. The University of Michigan’s August survey showed Republican consumer sentiment dropping 9.5 points from July—doubling the national decline and marking one of the largest single-month drops in the project’s history.

A YouGov poll released Tuesday showed Trump’s approval among Republicans falling to a second-term low of 79%, down 12 points from the start of his second term, while the share who strongly approved of his performance fell 20 points, from 68% to 48%. Among non-MAGA Republicans, who represent roughly 30% of the party, Trump’s approval declined sharply, leaving him nearly underwater at 51% approval and 47% disapproval.

A Financial Times poll published Sunday found Trump’s net approval among Republicans had fallen eight points over the previous month.

Americans strongly opposed the Iran war, with only 36.9 % supporting it, according to the Silver Bulletin’s polling average.

Gallup data showed Trump averaged an 88% approval rating with Republican voters throughout his first term.

A July Washington Post-Ipsos poll showed Democrats holding a ten-point advantage among voters certain to turn out, while Nathan Nascimento, executive director of the conservative group AFP Action, warned that one-in-five GOP voters could stay home in November, calling it “a dangerous metric for the party.”

Democrats were in a good polling position to retake the House, with Trump’s economic vulnerability threatening to drag down Republicans across the ballot. The same YouGov poll found Democrats holding an advantage over Republicans in the generic congressional ballot, 46% to 40%.