Does it matter that Trump’s approval rating is tanking?

It will have absolutely no impact because there is a floor to his approval rating since the magats will continue to approve of him no matter what he does - and I'm betting we're at or near it now.

Him strong.

Him. orange.

Him my lord.

Him my savior.

Do not resist.

Do as him say.

My lord.

My savior.

It does if it gets worse. There comes a point where GOP Reps and Senators whose 2026 reelection is not a sure thing, will start to get scared. They are not that scared yet but if his rating goes down toward 33 or even lower… things may start to change.

Maybe it will make him sick.

The fact that he has the lowest approval rating in his first 100 days compared to any other president in the past 80 years has got to be killing him. He’s all about ratings.

R5 He’s even sunk below his own approval rating from his first term. He’s below himself. That’s a record.

No. We’re not in enough pain yet. It has to be big. Big pain.

You’re right R7. And how sad is it that those of us with a brain still have to wait because the dumbasses can’t be convinced until it gets really bad?

Oh it’s coming R7.

#SummerOfScarcity hashtag on BlueSky

“Let me see those austerity lines!”

I have noticed the MAGATS I know getting quieter. One was complaining about high grocery prices but I still have a feeling they are blaming it on Biden.

By the way, if anyone you know voted for Trump, don’t fight over restaurant checks with them. Let them pay, They’ve cost us all enough.

R11 On that same note, I’ve noticed that right leaning YouTubers who were previously trashing Kamala Harris are avoiding politics completely now and just sticking to making fun of unhinged trans and nonbinary people.

[quote] Maybe it will make him sick.

I think it would be fitting if he had a debilitating stroke that left him unable to speak and in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Trump has mocked disabled people, veterans, and he made shitty jokes about Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and her husband John (a former Congressman) after John's death. It would be very fitting for him to spend the last years of his life unable to speak.

If Trump does suffer a debilitating a joke. This will be the reaction of Debbie Dingell and the many people who have been crapped on by Trump's POS mouth.

If the midterms go bad (they will) look for him to be impeached and removed for any number of offenses. I believe even he’s acknowledged this possibility.

R14 Do you really think that will be the breaking point? I’d like to believe it but I don’t think the cult will break with him.

In cults, there always the members who stand by the batshit crazy cult leader until the very end. That's going to happen with MAGA.

There were people who voted for Trump in 2016 and regretted it by 2020 and didn't support him in that election. Then there are the people who voted for him in 2016 and 2020, but January 6th was their breaking point and they ditched him after than. Now there are the Gen Z voters who are in the MAGA cult along with the people who haven't ditched Trump.

Yes.

Coverage will change and senate Republicans will be less afraid of him.

He fears empowerment of the individual American.

It matters because it weakens his power over other Republicans who may start to fear the voters more than they fear him.

R19 This.

Also, Trump hates being criticized or mocked, so it might provoke him into doing even stupider shit.

It’s a pity anyone would be scared by It.

R13 and he has such a big loud mouth and lies so horribly at all times that it would justice for him to be desperate and fighting to speak but couldn't.

R21 Lisa Murkowski is afraid and Susan Collins is concerned.

I think there might be some reason to distrust Trump.

don't be silly, r24. He has learned his lesson and he's a new man now!

Chuck Schumer wrote strong words in cursive. It’s all hands on deck now!

[quote]In cults, there always the members who stand by the batshit crazy cult leader until the very end. That's going to happen with MAGA.

I don't know about cults, but Nixon is the only example we can reference. Then, all through 1974, Nixon's disapproval inched downward. There were not many polls, no tracking polls that I am aware of, and the polls were not published weekly. His approval rate settled in the mid-30s. Then, after publication of the smoking gun transcript, the nation realized Nixon had been in on it since the very beginning.

It cratered to 28% in a matter of days, and he lost enough Republican Senators that impeachment and removal became likely. I always felt the 28% constituted the dead-enders—the ones who would support him no matter what. That was Nixon with a smoking gun transcript, after 2 years of headlines, an oil embargo, and a recession. The Democrats controlled both Houses and held Congressional hearings on an ongoing basis.

So, with all the advantages Trump has, I imagine his floor is 40%. It may bounce along 40, a little higher, a little lower. But I can't see a worse outcome for him.

And we had a real press with actual journalists when Nixon was president. Now the MSM is mostly caving to Trump.

He’s a cult leader, like Manson or Jim Jones. Most of Manson’s followers gave up on his bullshit when he went to prison.

We know that’s not going to happen here, so the best we can hope for is a Jonestown scenario at Mar a Lago.

Why should he care? His sycophants keep telling him he has the highest ratings of any president in history. And, more importantly, every media outlet carries him as their first story daily. If he weren't, then he'd care.

A weakened Trump is worse for MAGA World than a strong Trump. I think at this point he has lost the fire in his belly, he's run his last race and really doesn't care about spending 3 more years governing.

R29 From your mouth so Steven Miller's Koolaid urn.

Evidence he has seen the polls

His partial retreats on tariffs and the firing of the Federal Reserve Chairman were based on his fears of the effect on his approval ratings. I think they will have an influence on his handling of economic issues but won't completely save us. Since foreign affairs don't drive polling numbers much (unless we end up in a war), his detrimental effect on foreign affairs probably won't be mitigated.

Popularity ratings don't matter to dictators.

I wonder, if the Trump administration starts disappearing their political enemies and the public rises up, is that going to be enough to horrify congress into stopping him?

Yes they do, r35. See r33.

His power is largely derived from the perception that he is popular. That’s why he’s always lying about winning in a landslide and having a mandate with less than 50% of the popular vote. Low polls don’t disarm him, but they do weaken him.

Polls don't affect a corrupt and incompetent government that serves whoever's bribing it rather than the public.

It definitely matters to the orange toddler.

My MAGA colleagues in the Deep South believe that "next year will be a whole new golden era" where we'll be magically independent from foreign imports. So fucking dumb....and these people work in farming industries where there HAS to be imported goods.

MAGA knows they have 2 years to try to achieve their Shangrila. They just assume the low poll ratings will go away once nirvana has been reached.

After 2 years, Trump will be too old, a lameduck, and face a terrible midterms.

Clearly not. His supporters don't care about substance, rule of law, or even the most basic forms of decency. They will not riot in the streets against him, even as he robs their pockets and their future.

The Supreme Court is in his lapdog 90% of the time. Both houses of Congress are his. The Democrat minority in both houses is timid and ineffective. He is testing the waters in many ways as to how to circumvent the Judiciary. Too many people are scared of him. His dumb as dirt followers like him for being an angry disruptive force.

Why should he worry about polls?

Ratings and rallies are the only things he's ever cared about

I'm deeply concerned.

Exactly OP. He’s in-done deal. It’s all over but the shoutin.

When his poll rating were good, he would brag daily, but when they tank, he then claims the polls are bogus.

Head I win, tails you lose.

[quote]Polls don't affect a corrupt and incompetent government that serves whoever's bribing it rather than the public.

As long as Trump produces positive outcomes for them, he'll be fine.

You know this is totally pissing Trump off. He may be dictatorial, but he's also extremely thin skinned. Absolutely traumatized by these falling polls and the fact that most people in the world hate him and all his fucking nonsense.

Some dictators could absolutely shake it off. I don't think Putin gives a fuck. But Trump does. He's just wired that way.

As his ratings tank, the GOP will more likely quietly challenge parts of his “cut taxes for the rich” bill

His face keeps getting uglier. I avoid looking at it.

R50 = Melania

Sadly, I don't think he cares. Maybe a little, but not enough to admit he was wrong on everything from extreme deportations to tariffs. I think to him and his cronies, this is all an experiment to see how far they can go with removing woke, scaring people and threatening the press and universities. We don't even know yet the extent yet of the damage from gutting government including social security and all the layoffs of government employees. We don't know how long the economy will take to recover now.

It's horrific what they are doing at the Department of Justice and what used to be the civil rights division. All of his appointees are lunatics. I really hope we don't have to wait until 2026 for Republicans to grow a spine. The amount of additional damage that can be done by Trump 2.0 in the next 100 days or 300 days is unpredictable and horrifying to think about.

[quote] Sadly, I don't think he cares.

He’s now calling for pollsters to be prosecuted.

He cares. Bigly.

Tariff to recession timeline:

April 2: Tariffs announced, containership departures from China to U.S. slowing

Early-to-mid May: Containerships to U.S. ports come to a stop

Mid-to-late May: Trucking demand comes to a halt, leading to empty shelves and lower sales for companies

Late May to early June: Layoffs in trucking and retail industries

Summer 2025: recession

Source: Apollo Globa

The problem is that he is tanking the economy. Goods will be scarce and expensive, the economy will suffer significantly, millions will be laid off, and the US has alienated all their allies. Outside of Trump's psychopathic ego, who stands to gain from this? Putin.

It matters to Shitbag. He's having an absolute narcissistic tantrum over these polls. If a poll says Trump's approval rating has dropped hard.. then per Trump that poll is lying and must be "investigated". Problem is, now, that's ALL of the polls. And it'll get worse.

Of course it matters. It reflects how voters feel and could affect future elections. If this continues in 2026, Dems will retake the House and maybe (unlikely) the Senate.

Of course, Dems are even just as unpopular as Trump but that could change. They have lots of winning issues and need to laser focus on them.

R54, it seems we may be 2 weeks ahead of that schedule. Reports are coming in that, as of now (April 29), there are no international trade ships coming in at the major US ports.

This goes hand in hand with a rising wave of predictions in business media that consumers will start to see empty shelves this coming week (May 4-10) and the week after. With it worsening each week.

R55 - and every MAGA on X keeps going on about how his plan is working, just wait. These people are delusional. There’s a YouTube channel that’s pro-union, that speaks to the phenomenon of overseas manufacturing and how jobs started moving away from the US after NAFTA - a bipartisan trade agreement- was signed. These are people in the heart of MAGA country who realize that jobs aren’t coming back when Mexican factories pay $3 an hour. There’s a push to level the playing field by requiring free-trade partners, such as Mexico, to pay workers more. This is instead of implementing tariffs, which won’t work to bring jobs back because $3 an hour will always undercut any cost for good made in the US when you factor in labor. These are MAGA folks who hoped Dump would work to level the playing field by negotiating trade deals differently so they wouldn’t be bleeding jobs. But here we are with Dump flexing and changing his mind on tariffs, and blaming them on everything from a fentanyl crisis to being taken advantage of. He’s done nothing substantial to alleviate the pain - he’s effectively made it worse. I think these people also see Clinton and the Democrats tied to NAFTA, even though Republicans supported it, which makes them distrust Democrats, and so would never support them. I say all this as an outsider or someone not from the US, and so know I am probably misinformed on some points, and it is YouTube. But there seems to be another side to the trade debate that both parties ignore, which of course works out well for corporations who can get away with paying $3 an hour. It’s not Mexico the country paying these wages, it’s Volvo, Mack, Ford, etc.

Here’s a sign that the wackos are starting to figure it out — but still stand by him:

Re: that Roseanne clip - they hope they see the turnaround, yet can’t describe how that turnaround is supposed to occur under Dump’s plan. Even Dump hasn’t explained it. They trust a man who’s gone bankrupt multiple times for being some economic genius.

[quote] Outside of Trump's psychopathic ego, who stands to gain from this? Putin.

And China.

It won't matter. Trump is asking that drunken guy at the pentagon and his shady as shit AG how to use the military as civilian police.

Don't worry R64, if he actually tries that, it'll surely be challenged in the US Supreme-- Oh shit. Never mind.

More of Trump’s “not caring.”

He’s already deployed the US military for domestic security. In fact he’s declared large areas of federal land on the southern border to be part of a military base so that soldiers have the authority to arrest anyone on the land. Rachel covered it last night.

Poll numbers are one thing, but as others have noted, once the shelves are empty & businesses shutter because they can't get what they need, it's honestly hard to tell where this all will go.

I posted this in another thread. The recession is coming, for sure (unless Dump caves completely). I follow this guy on YouTube and he does his research.

I’m convinced that he and his gaggle of incompetent fascists are fucked. We haven’t even begun to feel the impact of his disastrous policies—especially economic.

Amazon announced today that they will post the impact of tariffs on every product and Trump is losing his mind over it. So, Bezos, that pussy, fails to endorse a candidate, sucks Trump’s dick, and now turning on him because he knows it’s safe to do so. The dominos are starting to fall.

I predict he’ll be in the low 30s by July. And that’s when all but the MAGA lunatics in Congress will turn on him. I’m hoping he strokes out and they just prop him up for an occasional photo shoot than turn things over to Vance, who is more despicable than Trump in some ways (didn’t think that possible). But will be happy just to see these Nicole’s neutered and humiliated—their careers and reputations destroyed.

The results of Canadian elections should be beacon of hope for all. Right wing was supposed to win in a landslide—and all it took was 100 days of Trump to turn things around. We’re going to crush these motherfuckers. My biggest feast is that Trump will intentionally get us into a war just to try to boost his ratings.

Do you think Ted Fucking Cruz is cheering on Trump? He wants him out of the way so he can run in 2028. He’s already starting to gently turn on him. Watch Cruz as a barometer of how safe it is to start turning on dear leader. He’ll be tge first rat off the ship as soon as he sees it irreparably damaged by the iceberg on public sentiment.

I hate it that, demographically, we so badly need these blunt-talking, potentialy-MAGA-relatable, straight white guys on our side like the YouTube guy in R69. But we do. And he's superb at what he does.

And on the ports and the trucking industry and the shit that's coming, he's right, 100%.

Exactly r71. Ted Cruz, as venal as he is, is also no dummy. He immediately spoke out against the tariffs. He knows he’s running in 2028, but if Dump hoses the economy, no Repuke is winning in 2028.

R72, I’ve followed him forever, he hates Dump and presents very logical info on why Dump has always been terrible for the economy. He’s also pretty liberal on social issues.

Prepare yourselves, DL’ers, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

The possibility of Amazon displaying tariff fees is funny. They should do it. The new prices coming might really shake people up.

R75, and when Amazon proceeds to spell it out for the customers, the Trump administration can't do a thing about Amazon's decision to spell it out.

This is the companies both (a) trying to save their own asses PR-wise amid pricing surges, and (b) putting some public pressure on Trump to retreat and call off the whole clusterfuck.

No way, R1. Hardcore MAGA supporters - the ride or die types - are probably about 19% of the ELECTORATE. One-third of the eligible electorate doesn’t even vote but they’ll start noticing the empty shelves and rising prices, loss of SS benefits, etc. And they have no loyalty to Trump.

Trump has much further to fall - on some issues. On others he couldn’t do any worse. When only 9% of this polled approve of your policies, how much lower can you go? Well, at least 9 more percentage points.

52% of Americans agree with the statement that Trump "is a dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy," per a newly released survey by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute.

That question provided a big warning sign for Trump: Most independents (56%) agreed that Trump is a "dangerous dictator," suggesting that middle-of-the-road voters who helped put him back in office are abandoning him.

People are essentially stupid. These polls mean nothing. If these polls were legit and t his was October of an election year it would be another story. Trump's handlers are following the classic "get the bad stuff out of the way early." and nothing he is doing was unexpected. Nothing. He told us what his plans were. He told us exactly what he wanted to do. And he is doing it.

You MAGA ass licker, R79. You’re a fucking joke.

The major oppositional response is: NOBODY VOTED FOR THIS.

Throughout the entire campaign, he denied any knowledge of Project 2025.

What do you mean “if these polls were legit”? Oh, you mean you dream of sucking Dump’s tiny mushroom shaped cock. And licking his shit encrusted asshole. Oh, I see. Fuck off.

His polls and approval ratings will only get WORSE because he’s never fixed anything in his life and he’s surrounded by a bunch of idiots. He’s a moron himself.

It’s going to get much worse for Trump. The rot set in during the 1st 100 days. The best thing that could happen for him is if he just dies.

^

[quote]The best thing that could happen for him is if he just dies.

HOW this should happen would make a great DL poll.

Ted Cruz running in 2028? Even Ted Cruz knows that Ted Cruz is too damn unlikeable to have a shot at the presidency.

R79, I agree that people are essentially stupid. But I don’t agree with the rest.