Little more than a month into his presidency, it’s quickly becoming cliche to point out President Trump’s low popularity numbers.
But according to a new Wall Street Journal and NBC News joint poll, Trump begins work with less support than any other president in seven decades of presidential polling and that’s probably not changing anytime soon. Altogether, 44 percent approve and 48 percent disapprove.
The responses from the far right and left are what you’d expect. Trump’s supporters and opponents both remain faithful. But there’s a group in the middle that makes all the difference, a middle demographic keeping the president from slumping even farther in the polls.
A third of the poll’s respondents either voted for Trump with reservations, voted for a third party candidate, or didn’t vote at all in 2016. Think of the evangelical soccer mom voter who reluctantly pulled the red lever, the #NeverTrump voter who scribbled down a different name, and the hipster voter who just doesn’t believe in voting anymore.
Those people are the ones who still support the celebrity president even after his heated attacks on the press, his controversial immigration orders, and the administration’s haunting relationship with Russia. More than half of that group is now offering their support.
Ultimately, so long as Trump doesn’t make that middle mad, the president probably won’t change his substance or style anytime soon.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
