President Donald Trump’s approval ratings continue to decline nationally, even as he makes moves to stop the bleeding. The Trump campaign seemed to hope a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 20 would help reinvigorate the campaign. It did not. Instead, it led to a widely-spread image of the president, defeated, carrying his hat in his hand as he departed Air Force One.
Another planned rally in New Hampshire was scuttled, ostensibly over fears of rain. However, it has yet to be rescheduled. This could reveal that pressure convinced the campaign not to hold a rally in the midst of a pandemic. The same pandemic, in fact, that seems to have driven Trump’s dropping public approval rating. However, the president is grasping at any way to reverse the trend now.
Early in the pandemic, the Trump administration issued daily coronavirus briefings. These were ostensibly to help inform the public about what the administration was doing to address the public health crisis. However, they would often devolve into bizarre pseudo-campaign rallies, with the president going on about some topic that had been bugging him that day.
As such, viewership of the briefings dropped, and many networks simply stopped airing the briefings live. It was around this time that Trump’s historic drop in public polling began. As the pandemic deepened, people lost their jobs and even lives, resentment of the current administration grew. Now, public polling shows Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden, leading him by an average of eleven points nationally.
However, the president is now taking a stab at putting a stop to his plummet in the ratings. He tweeted Monday evening in support of masks, saying they were “patriotic” to wear in public. This marked a sharp reversal from his earlier stance. Further, he’s bringing back the daily coronavirus briefings, likely wishing to project an air of leadership and control during an out-of-control pandemic.
Public polling suggests November could be grim for the Republican party. As many Americans struggle to pay for their Medicare Advantage plans, the president continues to take a cavalier attitude with the pandemic. Polling shows the president trails his opponent by double-digits in many battleground states. States thought to be “lean Republican” are now falling into the “toss-up” category.
As such, it remains to be seen whether Trump’s newest grab for public support will be successful. However, things need to change dramatically in the next three months for the election to not be an abject disaster for the GOP.
