Trump’s Job Approval Hits New Low In Fox News Poll
President Trump remains the most unpopular newly elected President since the end of the Second World War, and there's no sign that will change.
As we head toward the one-year anniversary of his surprise victory in the 2016 Presidential election, a new Fox News Poll shows President Trump hitting new lows in his job approval rating:
Was it the tweet storms or the hurricanes? Something hit President Trump’s numbers. His personal ratings have deteriorated and his job approval has hit a low.
Thirty-eight percent of voters approve of the job Trump is doing in a new Fox News poll, down from 42 percent last month. At the same time, disapproval is up 4 points to a high of 57 percent. That includes 49 percent who “strongly” disapprove.
Some of the drop comes from white men without a college degree, as 56 percent approve of the president, down from 68 percent last month. Working-class white men were a key voting bloc for him in the election (71 percent backed Trump according to the Fox News Exit Poll).
Republican support held steady at 83 percent approval.
John Kelly bests his boss: 42 percent approve of the job the White House chief of staff is doing, while 30 percent disapprove. Twenty-nine percent of voters are unable to rate him, including 25 percent of Republicans. Fewer Republicans approve of Kelly (69 percent) than Trump (83 percent). Yet more than three times as many Democrats approve of Kelly (24 vs. 7 percent).
Thirty-three percent think Trump is honest and trustworthy, though that’s hardly changed from just before the election when 35 percent felt that way (November 2016).
Roughly 4-in-10 think Trump has the knowledge (38 percent), compassion (37 percent), and judgment (37 percent) to serve effectively as president.
A similar 38 percent believe Trump “cares about people like me,” while 6-in-10 disagree (60 percent). Those most likely to feel he doesn’t care include non-whites (79 percent), women (68 percent), voters under age 45 (68 percent), and lower-income voters (67 percent).
Trump’s favorability stands at 39 percent. That’s down from 44 percent in August, and a high of 47 percent in June. His unfavorable number is 59 percent.
Voters are more favorable toward Melania Trump than her husband, but her numbers have taken a hit too. She’s at 45 percent favorable and 34 percent unfavorable. It was 51-28 percent in June.
The White House receives mixed marks for its response to recent disasters. Voters give net positive ratings for the response to the hurricanes that hit Houston (+7 points) and Florida (+2), but sharply negative ratings to how it responded to the Puerto Rico hurricane (-32), mass shooting in Las Vegas (-23), and the California wildfires (-21).
Meanwhile, 60 percent disapprove of how Trump’s handling health care. One third approves (33 percent). At a net negative 27, that makes health care his worst issue rating. He performs better — but is still underwater — on North Korea (-24 points), Iran (-21), taxes (-14), and the economy (-5).
President Obama’s signature law remains divisive. Twenty-five percent would repeal the health care law entirely (near the low of 23 percent wanting repeal), while another 31 percent would repeal parts of the law. On the other hand, a record 29 percent would expand it, and 13 percent would leave it as is.
When asked to look ahead 10 years, most voters expect at least some of the law will be changed: 21 percent expect it to be repealed entirely, up from 16 percent in 2015. Nearly half, 47 percent, say parts will be repealed. Fewer than one in four thinks it will be either expanded (14 percent) or left alone (9 percent).
What happens with health care carries more risk than reward for Republicans. The poll shows about the same number would credit Obama or the Democrats in Congress (37 percent) as Trump or the Republicans (33 percent) if the health insurance system improves. If the system gets worse, however, twice as many would blame Trump or the GOP (48 percent) as Democrats or Obama (22 percent).
(…)
Among Trump voters, the president receives his largest negative rating on trust, as 14 percent say he is dishonest. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), himself once a Trump supporter, tweeted about the president’s dishonesty Tuesday, “Same untruths from an utterly untruthful president.” That was in response to the president tweeting, in part, that Coker had decided against running for reelection “when I refused to endorse him.”
Overall, 57 percent of voters disapprove of Trump’s tweets, while 30 percent “wish he’d be more cautious.” Only 11 percent approve. Even Trump voters aren’t as enamored as they once were: 25 percent approve of his tweeting, down from 35 percent in March.
Looking at the polling averages, we find much the same news for the Trump Administration, and none of it is good. RealClearPolitics, for example, has the President’s job approval overall at 39% approve and 56.1% disapprove, while the average for job approval as it relates to the economy stands at 44.1% approve and 45.8% disapprove. Previously, the economy had been the one area where the President’s job approval was at least somewhat positive, so the fact that he is dipping into negative territory in this area as well could be an indication of growing dissatisfaction with his Presidency that could have a real impact going forward. On foreign policy meanwhile, Trump’s job approval stands at 36.6% approve and 55% disapprove. When it comes to personal favorability, Trump’s numbers remain nearly as bad as they were on Election Day with 38.6% saying they have a favorable opinion of the President and 56.8% having an unfavorable opinion for a net negative of -18.2 points. At Pollster, meanwhile, Trump’s job approval stands at 38.4% while his approval stands at 56.8%. As has been the case since January, Democrats have an overwhelmingly negative opinion on the President’s job approval while Republicans have an overwhelmingly positive one. Among Independents, meanwhile, Trump continues to do worse than he does with Americans as a whole with 34.3% approving of the job he’s doing and 56.1% approving. Finally, FiveThirtyEight’s job approval average, which is also weighted based on Pollster reliability and rankings, shows Trump’s job approval at 37.1 % and his disapproval stands at 56.9%.
As the RealClearPolitics chart shows, Trump’s job approval has continued its overall downward trend after briefly going slightly positive for him in the immediate aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma:
At some point, of course, all of this polling news begins to sound like something of a broken record. Trump continues to have an overwhelmingly negative job approval that stands as the worst for any newly elected President since World War Two and his personal favorability continues to be just as bad as it was during the campaign and roughly the same as it was on Election Day 2016. For most Presidents, numbers such as this would be the kind of political disaster that would mandate serious changes at the White House and a change in strategy aimed at turning public perception around. Instead of doing that, though, the Trump White House has responded by, well, not doing much of anything. There have been some changes in personnel, such as the departure of figures such as Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus, Anthony Scaramucci, Steve Bannon, and Sebastian Gorka, but none of that has changed the overall tone coming from the Administration and it certainly has not changed the behavior of a President who has spent the last two weeks attacking his predecessors, yet another Gold Star family, and sitting Senators such as Bob Corker. It’s also worth noting that as bad as Trump’s job approval numbers are, he does currently appear to have a floor somewhere in the range of the 37 to 39 percent, which likely represents the hardcore Trump supporters and Republicans who have decided to stand behind the President notwithstanding his lack of notable accomplishments and rather obvious flaws. While this seems like an odd way to govern, it seems to be what the Administration wants so it’s likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Whether this is a wise decision on their part is, of course, another question.
Every time I see a full-face shot of Trump it amazes me that he had the huevos to attack Carly Fiorina on the basis of her looks.
Remember back in July when Trump’s approval rating dropped to 36%, and his response to that news was to Tweet that “almost 40%” was “not bad”?
Using his calculus, I suppose he’ll be Tweeting that 37% is “almost 50%.”
We’re only nine months in.
FTFY
Who knew Trump had that many relatives?
I’m curious to know whether the 83% of Republicans and 38% of everyone are the same people. I hope so — the existence of 50 million marks who think Trump cares about them is depressing, but it would be even more depressing to have millions of additional Republicans approving of Trump while knowing he doesn’t care about them…
Well, he’s still at the point where he could drive down a sidewalk in
midtown Manhattan at noon, injure and kill many people and his base would stay with him.
Unless the mid-terms change the Congressional balance of power, and short of war with N. Korea, this – consistent less than 50% approval numbers – could go on for another 3 to 7 years.
@Franklin: Why does it FEEL so much longer?
I wonder if they’re even reporting this on FOX. Haven’t seen any “FAKE NEWS” tweets this morning (but there was one about protecting “our heritage” re: Confederate statutes).
Who are these people?
I guess this proves beyond reasonable doubt that Republicans are either morons or so woefully misinformed about the world that they might as well be morons.
The really, really sad observation that is to be derived from this, however, is not that Republicans are stupid (even though this happens to be true), but that the vast majority of them were made stupid by a bunch of political scam artists; and, moreover, that society was not strong enough to prevent this from happening.
Sometimes I get the impression we’re in a classroom experiment gone wrong and without a responsible adult to lead us back to sanity.
Meanwhile, the Mataconis-Leftist gang is dead silent about the disclosure that Hillary and the DNC, paid for the spurious Trump dossier and hope the Russians and the uranium deal will just go away.
Does a Fox poll count as “fake news” in Trump world?
@John430:
I see the Dope Caucus are trying to re-bunk that story again.
@CSK:
After Rush Limbaugh attacked Michelle Obama’s looks, anything goes.
@John430:
1st…Everyone knew who paid for the Dossier last October. Democrats. Who did you think that meant? Denis Kucinich? WTF? Do you have a brain?
2nd…Much of what you call spurious has been collaborated. Much has been not. Almost none of it has been proven wrong. Credible intelligence sources deem it credible. Perhaps you don’t actually know the meaning of spurious?
Yes…Don-the-Con says it’s not true…but he lies about absolutely everything.
Of course you believe absolutely everything he says.
What does that say about you?
@John430:
Revised for purposes of acknowledging reality:
Meanwhile, the
Mataconis-LeftistFifth Column Rightist gang is trying desperatelydead silent aboutto insinuate that the disclosure that Hillary and the DNC, paid for thespuriousas yet not proven to be false Trump dossier, and hope the 2 year old and thoroughly vetted Russians and the uranium deal will cause the completely justified investigation of Trump and his associates to just go away.@John430:
I’ll cut people like Kevin Drum or Josh Marshall or Rachel Maddow a break when they dummy up about this stuff. They’re liberal partisans, even though they do occasionally try to pretend otherwise. Mataconis really has no excuse. You can beat up on Trump AND beat up on the Democrats at the same time and it’s kind of childish to just flat out stop commenting on issues whenever they become about something other than the supposed awfulness of Donald Trump.
Plug in “Russia” in this blog’s search function to see what I mean.
Mike
@MBunge:
Youve joined the ranks of John321.
You must be proud.
Ranting about a year old story on SOP opposition research.
Please tell us what Sean Hannity told you to think about this?
@al-Ameda: as yet not proven to be false
Okay, even most of the Trump-haters around her have to recognize how pathetic that is. I mean, has anyone actually PROVEN that Hillary Clinton isn’t secretly a lesbian who killed Vince Foster?
Mike
@Daryl’s other brother Darryl:
So, the Washington Post published a story about Clinton paying for the dossier two days ago because…everyone already knew about it? They just wanted to cut Donald Trump a break and give his defenders something to talk about? The Washington Post is all about MAGA now?
Do you enjoy making yourself look this stupid?
Mike
@MBunge:
The WP story advanced what was already known incrementally.
Everyone knew that one of Trumps Republican opponents (still unknown) got it started and then, once Draft-Dodging Donnie won the nomination, Democrats picked it up.
Seriously Bunge…who do you really think Democrats, in this context, means?
Here, I’ll help you.
In the context of a Presidential campaign Democrats means the DNC and the nominee, who work hand in hand on opposition research.
Do you even know what opposition research is?
Outside of your fever-swamp rant…what do have to say about everything in the dossier that has been collaborated? Including contacts between the Trump Campaign and the Russians, which the Trump campaign has repeatedly lied about?
Jesus-gawd…and you call anyone else stupid?
Wait until tax time and all those lovely pro-Trumpers see just how small a return they’ll get…. if they don’t owe the IRS money. Taking away the mortgage deduction, state taxes and slashing 401K contributions will have a major effect: the young trying to save and wanting to buy a house, the middle class who own a house and are trying to save for the future and the Boomers trying to sell their house and squeeze in some last years before retirement. Even well-off families will take the hit with the mortgage – it’ll be funny to see how many get kicked into a new tax-bracket with all this. This will make the economy stall because another housing bust is virtually guaranteed with this.
A metric sh^tton of people are going to feel this one in the pocketbook. Think people were angry before? You ain’t seen nothing yet.
@MBunge:
Hey Mikey,
We’ve noticed you like to scurry away when faced with questions that are tough to answer (which, considering your man-crush, all questions are probably pretty tough to answer.)
Since you keep ignoring our questions on other threads, let’s try them out here.
Regarding your rant on Jeff Flake: Can you please specifically outline what it is Jeff Flake said that was wrong? Can you identify two lies in his entire speech? (I always assume any speech, by anyone, may have one falsehood, hence tasking for two examples.)
@Kylopod:
Didn’t Limbaugh refer to 12-year-old Chelsea Clinton as “the White House dog” back in 1992?
Interesting that the most repulsive-looking men are always the first to denigrate a woman’s looks.
@MBunge:
Bunge…you’re blindly sticking up for a guy that is proven to lie 3 times as often as he tells the truth.
Do you really think that’s prudent?
And if so, you might want to consider your lot in life and think about the changes you could make simply by being smarter.
Okay, then, let’s hash this dossier thing out.
What’s new information? Not much. Basically the only real new revelation is that the DNC/a law firm connected with Clinton’s campaign picked up the ball when (the still unnamed but apparently most likely Jeb!) dropped it.
So…a campaign decided to pay for opposition research. Alert the press!
Steele was pulled in when Fusion GPS needed help investigating the Russian links (that is, the Russian links TO TRUMP). Steele had contacts that they did not. The FBI was concerned enough about some of what was found (about Trump) that they allegedly offered to pay for the info. Some of the information in the dossier has been corroborated. These are problems for TRUMP, not Clinton.
How is any of even what has been recently uncovered anything that Clinton should worry about? I know there’s some screeching about “well, when asked, someone from the campaign said they had nothing to do with it…” etc., but: 1) opposition research is often quite segmented from a campaign’s regular operations–this is done precisely so that no one runs with something that hasn’t yet been fully vetted; and 2) how many times have we heard that exact same line from Don Jr., which is almost always immediately disproved?
There’s really no “there” there. Contrast that with meeting actual Russians at Trump Tower. For some reason, in the Republican vapor-sphere, this is a 1:1 comparison. The situations are not even close.
@Neil Hudelson:
Hey hey hey now, I’M Mikey. He’s Bungle.
Corker just said that the White house staff asked him to intervene when Trump appeared to be ready to “go off the rails.”
And, to reiterate, Tom Coburn told the NY Times that Trump suffers from a personality disorder.
Do I believe them? I do.
@Neil Hudelson:
For people like Bunge it’s not about facts. Hell, without getting paid he carries the water of a child-man who tells 3 lies for every one thing he says that’s true.
For them it’s about emotion. The Comb-Over makes him feel all warm and fuzzy and protected…Flake doesn’t. Therefore the Comb-Over wins…no matter what he does to Bunge personally; raise his insurance premiums, raise his taxes, pollute his air and water, lessen his kids education, take away his 401K, etc.
Bunge FEELS protected (he’s not sure from what). Submissives like that…a lot.
@MBunge:
She literally led with this story two days ago.
There’s no cover-up, no conspiracy. The Democrats funded the research after the Republicans stopped funding it when the primary ended.
We need to get past the hope that the 38% will suddenly drop. I’m not engaging in hyperbole when I say these people are essentially cult members. Reality will have little to no effect on them. They’ll have to decline slowly, over time, just like Scientologists or followers of some Guru.
The people Trump voters will punish is Republicans who have not fully subscribed to the cult. The inevitable heretic hunt has begun and the purges will continue. The result will be an ever more tightly-knit bunch of fanatics. See Stalin’s USSR.
The point is not the 38%. They are lost and will only be recovered by slow attrition. Hitler’s people stayed with him even as their cities burned down around them and Russian troops raped their way across Germany. Cult members are like that. @MBunge or @JKB will never, ever come to grips with reality.
The target audience is not them, it’s the 7-10% of Trump voters who voted for entertainment. The best hope – aside from Mueller – is that Trump’s shtick will get old and lose its freak show value. He needs to become the Nickelback of politics – he’ll keep the cult but lose the rest.
@MBunge:
David Corn at Mother Jones reported a year ago that a GOP campaign had initiated the process and then handed it off to the Democrats after the GOP candidate (as yet unnamed) had been eliminated. From Corn’s piece:
What the WaPo reporting added was the specific “who” of the Democrat side and the confirmation the “former spook” is Christopher Steele (although Steele had already been named elsewhere).
@Jen:
The purpose is not to have any there there. It’s to come up with a theory which allows their supporters like John and the Bunge-hole to try to confuse the issue. The fact that the theory falls apart on the slightest examination does not matter. For a good debunking of the theory, see Jon Chait:
“It is obviously true that Steele’s sources had some contact with the Kremlin. That, of course, is why they were sources. If they had no connections to the Russian government, Republicans could say they were ignorant people speculating on subjects they knew nothing about. But by pretending that Steele’s sources were actually Kremlin agents, Republicans can proceed to hypothesize that they were deliberately spreading a message devised by Putin in order to smear Donald Trump.
There are some important confounding facts that the theory of alt-collusion avoids. For one, Trump’s apparent collusion with Russia involved a crime: stealing Democratic emails. Steele’s “collusion” involves no crime at all. Second, while the Russian propaganda apparatus publicly amplified political messages generated by its email theft, it has done nothing of the sort with the Steele dossier. Indeed, Russia fervently denied the charges in the dossier and called them an attempt to smear Trump.
But if you ignore these massive flaws, the theory of alt-collusion opens the way for a prosecution of the people investigating Trump. After all, if Putin was using Steele to spread nefarious lies about Trump, then why did the FBI treat these charges seriously? Could it be that the FBI is also a tool of the Russian conspiracy?
The purpose of the theory of alt-collusion is not necessarily to be swallowed whole. It is merely to be taken plausibly enough to raise questions about Trump’s investigators. If the FBI might be compromised by a sinister Russian conspiracy, then it follows that James Comey is suspect. And since Mueller is close with Comey, he too is suspect.”
I’m wondering if there is a point at which Fox News will stop actively fluffing him? Probably not. Their business model is delivering gullible people to advertisers. You’re not going to watch Fox unless you are a Trump supporter and you are not going to be a Trump supporter unless you are pretty gullible. So right now Fox can tell all the gold-sellers and supplement-hawkers that their Fox advertisements reach virtually 100% dupes. Their pitch: Fox: the most Dupe dense network out there.
@MBunge: What is there to dummy up about? The Democrats did opposition research on Trump. Big deal.It is totally legal. Nothing new here. Meanwhile the Republicans, in a desperate attempt to change the subject, are wasting tax payers money on a totally debunked story about uranium and Russia and Hillary. In other words they are using their power in Congress to harass the political opposition.
@al-Ameda:
I wouldn’t count on war with NK shifting the 38% approval rating. Not even if their children started coming home in coffins. Republicans have nothing left to speak to the notion that they possess any human qualities at all anymore.
@Moosebreath: I know, I know. I just get frustrated when I see Trump defenders gloating about this like it’s some new huge revelation when it’s really just a fairly minor addendum to what has been known for more than a year now. Ari Fleischer has been ranting on Twitter for two days now on how this is clear evidence of collusion between the Russians and the Democrats (WTF?), and it makes me wonder what his reading comprehension scores are like, because NO, it is not.
@Terrye Cravens:
FTFY
@Jen: I imagine Fleischer’s reading comprehension is just fine. Also his evaluation of his own integrity and the reading comprehension of his audience is pretty accurate too. Fleischer’s skill set leads to the business decision to push this rant on Twitter.
Revised to note: I’m not sure that war with NK can gin up his approval ratings or make them go down. And it there was ever a war that was, in the lyrics of Eric Burdon, “good for absolutely nothing,” it would be a war against NK. More so than Iraq or Afghanistan, even.
@michael reynolds:
If the economy goes sour, I think it will drop. Yes, there are a core of Trump cultists who will never abandon him no matter what happens. But I believe it’s significantly lower than 38%. (I’m not sure where that “floor” is exactly, but you can get a general idea by looking at polls that distinguish between those who “strongly approve” of Trump and those who merely “somewhat approve.”) There are still many voters who give him an acceptable rating because, however terrible he may look to us, the country is in at least okay shape right now (at least if you don’t live in Puerto Rico). The last jobs report notwithstanding, the economy is still chugging along, and we aren’t in the middle of a massive war. The fact that Trump’s numbers are as low as they are is a testament to how widely disliked he is–you normally don’t see ratings this bad under these conditions.
Approval ratings are usually tied to how well the economy’s doing. Look at the trajectory of just about any modern president–Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Dubya, Obama–and you see their ratings rising and falling almost in tandem with the economy (though Dubya’s also took a beating from the Iraq War). Sometimes non-economic events can cause a surge in a president’s ratings (Desert Storm, 9/11, the killing of OBL), but usually it’s temporary.
The bottom line is that Trump started out with unusually low ratings for an incoming president, and they have since taken a beating due almost entirely to his performance as president. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a sizable number of voters who are still giving him a chance as long as their pocketbook isn’t empty.
Rush Limbaugh this morning was outraged about the dossier story and was explaining to his audience exactly how it shows that everything that has happened against Trump so far relating to Russia is BS. The rest of talk radio, as well as the right-wing blogosphere etc., are undoubtedly magnifying this message, and the world of Trump followers today is more certain than ever (if that’s possible) that the Russia investigations are all fake and a total witch hunt. So no, I don’t think they will ever be reached. It was funny listening to him express shock that opposition research could ever be the basis of a federal investigation. I unable to continue listening until someone called in to remind him of Whitewater, but I’m sure someone did, right?
As per usual, Reynolds is correct. Bunge and JKB and the rest of the sycophants will never, ever see what’s right in front of them. Because they don’t want to.
Look at it this way; no matter what you think of President Cheeto-Dick colluding with Russia, it’s pretty damn obvious to everyone that Russia attacked us, and is continuing to attack us. No one with a lick of credibility thinks otherwise. Yet the White House wants to do absolutely nothing about it. Nothing. They want to stand by and allow the attacks to continue unabated.
– Think about that for just a minute. –
38% of the nation is perfectly OK with Russia attacking us, and is completely dis-interested in doing anything about it.
Would you ever have though that could be so?
@Daryl’s other brother Darryl:
The Trumpkins were predisposed to side with Russia because Putin is a “strong man” who hates gays and is, purportedly, a Christian.
@Daryl’s other brother Darryl:
It still pains me greatly when I remember there are men with whom I stood watch on the West German border during the Cold War who, having then pledged their lives to keep the Russians out, are today entirely fine with just handing over the keys.
@Pete S:
Perhaps people have forgotten but, before Cheeto-Penis came along, Fleischer held the title of most mendacious person in politics.
I’m sure it’s only a coincidence that they are both Republicanists.
@MBunge:
Actually, Ken Starr’s report exonerated her on the Vince Foster crapola, however it did not address the Republican obsession with Hillary’s sexual preferences.
@al-Ameda:
I’ve always found it a bit weird that the exact same people who believe HRC is a lesbian engaged in a long term affair with Huma Abedin seem also to believe that she was lovers with Vince Foster and that Webb Hubbell is Chelsea’s biological father.
@CSK:
It’s OK…I know for a fact that Trump fvcks his daughter, Ivanka, and makes Jarod watch from a small cage next to the bed.
@Daryl’s other brother Darryl:
You’re probably aware of all those photos of Trump cuddled up to Ivanka, his hands on her hips and breasts. There’s one of her lying in bed with him, her legs in the air. And that delightful interview with Wendy Williams, wherein Williams asks him what he and ivanka have in common, and he replies, “I’d like to say sex…”
Translate “Donald Trump” into Thai, and you get “Sik Fuk.”
“People say we have the best relationship of any president-president, because he’s called president also,” he went on to say. “Now some people might call him the king of China. But he’s called president.”
-donald trump, king dipshit.
Yes, the lunatics on the right are 38% for Trump, yet Obama and the Dems passed that horrific “Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act” by acclimation without one Dem objecting and Obama signed it into law. The drug lobby spent $102 million on this.
And only 3 Democratic Senators voted against the bloated increase of $80 billion to the Pentagon.
That bill lead to thousands of opiate overdoses and it is beyond my comprehension why the two Senators from California voted FOR that appropriations bill.
Why be a Democrat anymore I ask myself, if they seldom represent my positions anymore.
Yet, I will always vote Dem instead of wingnut and have all my life.
Those Trump voters are the same way.
Instead of wasting your breath castigating those irredeemable clowns, why not get p issed off at the growing corruption of our own party?
Google Linden Barber if you want to see the grotesque Washington insider games which are played until someone calls them out.
This bill which eliminated DEA oversight, is EXACTLY why Trump is POTUS.
How can you blame them for wanting to drain the swamp of this type of corruption?
It used to be a cock high fastball for liberal Democrats to play the class warfare game against the GOP. That was our best argument. Democrats fought for the working class and were very successful when articulated why George Romney should be taxed at 71%.
Now, we are on the verge of eliminating the inheritance tax and the Dems are busy fighting religious groups over contraceptive coverage and suing bakeries to cater to gays.
Both important, like a wart is important to lung cancer. Boomer liberals totally whiff on the big issues and cater to the who gives a schite crowd on issues of little import to the grave issues facing us.
Trump’s popularity with his white high school crowd dies next April when they realize they are paying More in taxes than under Obama.
@Teve tory:
Have you noticed that “people say” is one of Trump’s favorite locutions? People say “he’s doing a great job.” “People say” that Hillary Clinton belongs in prison. “People say” that news critical of me is fake news.
He never specifies who these “people” are.
@michael reynolds:
As a second to michael reynolds, I submit the nut graph in this Fox poll story is right here:
So despite 9 months of thoroughly documented lying, the needle has barely moved on the “honest and trustworthy” question. The sycophants believe him and no one else. As far as these cultists are concerned, Trump has it right, everyone else is wrong and no amount of investigative reporting, statistical analysis or expert testimony is going to convince them otherwise.
Pray for Mueller to come through and soon. The cult won’t be swayed, but maybe (just maybe) his enablers in the congressional GOP won’t find it so easy to protect a convicted felon.
@CSK: That’s an example of Wikipedia’s definition of weasel words, one of the common don’ts on the site:
@Kylopod:
Indeed. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone in public life use the phrases “people say” or “many people say” as often as Trump does.
Why does it have to be an either/or situation…of course those issues are “of little import” to you, as you aren’t a woman or gay…what a great “Democrat” you are…
I find the following contrast amazing and telling (although not surprising):
Trump supporters have, for months, dismissed any evidence of connection between the Trump campaign and Russia, including Don Jr.’s meeting with Russians and e-mails that clearly state he was looking for campaign help. However, a story about the HRC campaign pursuing oppo research and the now-infamous dossier and it is: ah HA!! Further, this revelation either proves a) the Russia story is nothing, or b) the Russia story is real, but it is all about Hillary, not Trump.
Also amusing: the story is from WaPo, which I guess isn’t fake news or the lamestream media in this specific instance.
People say that Trump is a grifter and a con man.
I agree with those people.
Until and unless anti-trump repugs and repug leaning independents abandon the party and vote for the Democrat nothing will change and the bone spur coward will prattle on.
Time’s new cover really gets to the heart of Trump’s problems. Oh, and it also demonstrates why removing Trump isn’t effective, he’s delegated.
@Daryl’s other brother Darryl: Yeah, and I have a bridge I’d like to sell you. Why is Fusion trying so hard to block the investigation?
@Steven L. Taylor: Dear Mr. Taylor: I must ask you why this blog allows such filthy comments in a so-called political commentary forum? Darryl-Darryl posted this as FACT. I can smell the libel suit from here.
Daryl’s other brother Darryl says:
Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 16:21
@CSK:
It’s OK…I know for a fact that Trump fvcks his daughter, Ivanka, and makes Jarod watch from a small cage next to the bed.
@John430:
Are they? If so, let’s find out why. I am quite interested in learning if/how Russia tried to influence our campaigns regardless of who it makes look bad in the US.
Are you?
BTW, you are utterly ignoring, I would note, what was already known on this issue–see Mikey’s comment above.
@John430: OTOH, it is a distasteful comment that I would not have made. OTO, it is clearly a satirical comment meant to underscore the kinds of accusations that have been directed at HRC (see the comment to which he was responding).
I do not think that violates the TOS of the site. Further, since Doug is the author of this post, I would leave it to him to decide if we wants to address comments in this thread.
Somewhat OT, but Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s former advisor, has suggested that Hillary Clinton be tried and executed for treason.
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@JKB: I wonder how many people who are all for “dismantling government as we know it” actually depend on that same government and would freak out if that dismantling caused them serious pain…this all has the same vibe as “keep your government hands off my Medicare!”…
@An Interested Party: I remember at the time of the first debt ceiling drama (2010?) I was home from Korea visiting my mom and she was doing her usual Fox News thing about how the Republicans in Congress were the only ones who care about common people and how the Tea Party caucus was the only responsible group even among the Republicans and how she was hoping that they would win their battle over the budget.
I responded something to the effect that I agreed, and I hoped that they stuck to their guns and agreed not to raise the debt ceiling and brought the government into default.
Her response was “have you lost your mind?” I had to conclude that 1) she wasn’t as senile as I had feared and 2) she wasn’t the stalwart deficit hawk she would have liked to have been.
This week’s column:
http://fallacyreporter.com/2017/10/26/will-edward-brooke-trump-era/