Trump’s approval plunges into the 20s, and Republicans give up

by Max Burns, opinion contributor 09/23/26 09:00 AM ET

It was received wisdom during President Trump’s first term that his hard floor of support sat somewhere around one-third of Americans. Those were the MAGA true believers, the die-hards, the folks who stood in line for hours to attend their fifth Trump rally of the year. That rule of thumb proved to be true. Trump’s approval was still hovering in the 40s before ending around 34 percent on Jan. 4, 2021.

Whatever truths we can glean from Trump’s trainwreck of a second term, it is clear the MAGA base is now deserting him in record numbers.

An American Research Group poll published this week found Trump’s approval at just 29 percent — a new low for his presidency and a flashing warning sign for the congressional Republicans being dragged beneath the waves by the president’s plummeting popularity.

What is surprising are the circumstances of Trump’s collapse. The economy is certainly in better shape than it was during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, when Trump’s approval sat in the 40s. Last month’s 3.5 percent inflation rate is bad but well below its peak. Perhaps, more than high gas and grocery prices, Americans have just had enough of politicians who don’t seem to care about their problems.

The best example of Republican apathy doesn’t even come from Trump, but from the very mild criticism delivered by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). In a Sept. 6 interview with “Meet the Press,” Kennedy admitted that congressional Republicans could act before the midterms to ease an affordability crisis that is crushing regular Americans.

“These prices are gutting the middle class like a fish and they expect Congress to address them. And we should have started five months ago. We didn’t. But we need to start talking about it now,” Kennedy said.

When asked by host Kristen Welker if Republicans had the power to address inflation, Kennedy was clear: “Sure, if we wanted to,” Kennedy replied. “We can do anything we want to in reconciliation and ask the House to come back and do it. I’m not saying we will do that. Certainly based on our record of the last five or six months, it’s not likely.”

It is one thing for angry voters to hear Democrats complaining about Republican inaction on inflation. It’s quite another to hear a prominent Republican tell voters in no uncertain terms that the Republican Party just doesn’t care enough about them to address skyrocketing prices. Sure, your nearly $5 a gallon gas may be demolishing your family budget, but don’t expect your Republican elected leaders to lift a finger to help.

The apathy on display among Republican leaders is baffling, given the scope of America’s affordability crisis. A Fox News poll conducted Sept. 11-14 found that more than two-thirds of voters — including one-quarter of Republicans — blame Trump for making the economy worse. Those voters also trust Democrats over Republicans to address the inflation crisis by a 15-point margin, one of the largest spreads to date.

Interestingly, that number is driven more by voter anger over Republicans’ failure to act (51 percent) than confidence Democrats’ plans will actually work (47 percent). Voters would rather try a solution that might not work than let an indifferent and ineffective Republican Party squander two more years of power.

Meanwhile, swing voters need only look at Trump’s recent comments on gas prices to know no help is coming from Republicans. At a campaign event in North Carolina last Wednesday, Trump scolded Americans for complaining about high gas prices when things could be so much worse.

“It’s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done,” Trump said, referencing the effect his endless war in Iran is having on global oil prices. “Remember that. It’s a little more. Frankly, even if it was a lot more.”

“Gas prices could be worse” is an odd campaign message for an incumbent president who campaigned on a promise to lower the price at the pump to below $2 a gallon. Then again, so is Kennedy’s remark that Republicans could make life easier for Americans if they felt like it. The same Republican lawmakers who guaranteed voters a golden age now seem offended that they were expected to actually deliver on those lofty promises.

With less than two months to go until Election Day, Republicans seem incapable of hiding their own apathy about what happens to the people they govern. They increasingly sound like a party that has already internalized a wipeout electoral defeat and decided the affordability crisis is someone else’s problem. At long last, the American people get to see Republicans for the do-nothing frauds they are.