While President Donald Trump saw his approval rating plummet over the course of the government shutdown, Democrats experienced the opposite, reaching their highest level of popularity in nearly a decade, a new poll shows. Along those lines, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had the trust of more American voters than Trump.
Among American voters in a Quinnipiac University Poll released Tuesday, 38 percent approved of the way Democrats in Congress are handling their job, while 48 percent disapproved. Congressional Democrats' approval rating was the highest since 38 percent approved and 50 percent disapproved in an early July 2009 survey by the university.
Republicans in Congress got a 30 percent job approval rating and a 65 percent disapproval rating, which was largely unchanged from surveys conducted recently.
Nearly half, 49 percent, of American voters said they trust Pelosi more than Trump "on issues that are important" to them, while only 42 percent said they trust Trump. Among independent voters, 49 percent trusted Pelosi more and 36 percent trusted Trump more.
Those totals broke down to 91 percent of Democrats trusting Pelosi more and five percent trusting Trump, 54 percent of women trusting Pelosi and 37 percent trusting Trump, 82 percent of black voters trusting Pelosi and two percent trusting Trump and 62 percent of Hispanic voters trusting Pelosi and 27 percent trusting Trump. Meanwhile, 88 percent of Republicans trusted Trump more and six percent trusted Pelosi more, 52 percent of white voters trusted Trump and 42 percent Pelosi, and 48 percent of men trusted Trump and 42 percent trusted Pelosi.
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi–one; President Donald Trump–zero," Quinnipiac University Poll assistant director Tim Malloy stated in the survey report. "The first round of many to come in the heavyweight bout goes the Speaker's way as Trump takes the hit for the shutdown and his party is suffering along with him."
Trump's job approval rating matched that of congressional Democrats at 38 percent, while his disapproval rating was worse at 57 percent.
"Does 38 percent approval translate to reelection problems?" Malloy stated. "Maybe."
U.S. Voters Trust #NancyPelosi More Than #PresidentTrump on Big Issues, Poll Finds; 2-1 Support for No-Wall Border Solution https://t.co/gXwVX7bhqC
— Quinnipiac University Poll (@QuinnipiacPoll) January 29, 2019
The results on Pelosi and Trump from the Quinnipiac poll—conducted from January 25 to 28 with 1,004 registered voters and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points—were similar to those of a CBS News poll administered from January 18 to 21.
Among CBS News poll respondents, 47 percent said Pelosi was doing a better job handling the shutdown impasse, while only 35 percent said Trump. That poll was released on Thursday, the day before Trump decided to temporarily reopen government for three weeks without receiving funds for his border wall. It was widely considered a loss for Trump and a win for Democrats.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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A Los Angeles native, Jessica Kwong grew up speaking Spanish, Cantonese and English, in that order. Her journalism career started ... Read more
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