Recent Polling Data

A wide range of polls are being released that paint a picture of complete disarray in American politics. While many watching the Trump Administration's overreach in dismantling government institutions, imposing tariffs, and disappearing legal residents (and hoping to do so to citizens) seem to feel very alone, the polling data suggests that people across all sectors of society reject this governing approach. Here I highlight a few of the more interesting findings, but I would encourage you to look into the issues that matter most to you. Don't let anyone gaslight you. The American people do not approve of this administration.

1. Poll Aggregator

The New York Times is running an amazing graphic that aggregates polls. You can see it here. As of 9:28am 4/24 the presidential disapproval rating is at 52%. That's a nine percent increase since the first poll of this administration. If you scroll down you can compare the data with data on past presidents including the president's first term.

If you scroll to the bottom where you can see the actual polls that they use in their data, and then you select the button that says "select pollsters," it will show you the data that has higher scientific standards. Once you limit results to the more scientific polls, it appears that disapproval ratings are even higher (with the Fox News sponsored poll reporting some of the highest disapproval ratings!). The Pew poll found dis-favorables at 59%. Whichever poll you look at, the majority of respondents disapprove.

2. Young people

The Harvard Youth Poll released its 2025 data, the fiftieth anniversary of the poll. The poll surveyed adults under the age of thirty on a variety of measures in mid-March of this year. The main finding being reported in the press is that only fifteen percent of respondents say the country is headed in the right direction.

But the most significant drop from 2020 to the present is with approval of democrats in Congress, whose approval rating plummeted from 48% to 23%.

There were other concerning findings, over forty percent report "barely getting by" financially. That number is significantly higher among young women than men. The more young people are exposed to the economy, the more they struggle, with a five percent increase between 18-24 and 19-29 year olds.

This is concerning not only because young people are going to get less support from the government at a moment when they need more support, but because this is the same category of voters with whom democrats lost ground in the 2024 presidential election. While not an exact match in the age ranges being analyzed, Harris lost 17 points compared to Biden with young voters (those under 45). If dems want to regain those voters they need to offer a stable economy, programs to help people find meaningful and well-paid employment, and reasonably-priced housing and healthcare.

3. The Pew Research Forum's April 7-13 polling data

The most recent data of 3,589 adults from Pew, reported by USA Today, suggest that there has been a tremendous loss of confidence in the President's handling of the economy. The poll showed that the majority of respondents do not have confidence in the president's handling of the economy which represents, as the paper reports, "a huge swing from a net 19-point approval to 9-point disapproval."

Other stories around the Interwebs:

If you criticize Elon Musk, your reach on Twitter plummets via NYT (yet one more reason that I'm on Bluesky if you want to join me!)

Interview with Syria's new leader - details the tension he faces between needing to court foreign supporters to obtain the equipment his country needs to raise a military while also needing to appease hard-liners in his own government. He is clearly hoping that Russia will continue to provide arms even as Russia refuses to release former president Assad to the new regime to be tried.

"Tweet" of the day:

Say. This.

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— Sherrilyn Ifill (@sifill.bsky.social) April 23, 2025 at 8:23 PM