Americans have pretty much given up on trusting Washington to handle big problems, according to a new survey.
For different reasons, just 35 percent trust the government to handle domestic problems and 41 percent international issues, said Gallup.
“Americans’ trust in the federal government’s ability to handle both domestic and international problems has sunk to the lowest points in more than two decades. Thirty-five percent of Americans have ‘a great deal’ or ‘a fair amount’ of trust and confidence in the U.S. government’s ability to deal with domestic issues, down from 45 percent four months ago. Over the same period, the reading for handling international issues has dropped nine percentage points, to 41 percent,” said Gallup.
Those are “record lows” on issues Gallup has been following for two decades, said the polling outfit.
“The public’s trust in the government’s handling of both domestic and international issues has been severely breached, reaching record lows in the latest polling. Until 2007, majorities of Americans consistently expressed confidence on both fronts,” it said.
In trying to figure out why much of America has lost faith in Washington, Gallup suggested that Democrats are depressed over Republican President Trump, Republicans over losing control of Congress, and everybody over the partial government shutdown.
But it noted that Republican trust has dropped the most, a possible 2020 election warning sign.
Gallup’s bottom line:
