Higher gas prices for consumers since the war in Iran began are among the reasons that more voters are giving President Donald Trump poor grades in a new poll. Here’s a look at the latest favorability poll and how the economy factors in.
Trump’s Approval Hits Record Lows
Similar to recent months, approval ratings for Trump are trending lower and hitting record lows.
A new Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll for October shows Trump with a 33% approval rating, a record low for the poll. Trump’s disapproval rating stands at 66% in the poll. These figures compare to 37% and 61% in July, respectively.
The disapproval strength is also getting worse for Trump, with 52% of respondents now saying they disapprove strongly of the president.
Economy Among Top Items
In the poll, 72% of voters say the country is headed in the wrong direction, with economic issues among the most important on the minds of voters.
Trump receives an approval rating of 28% for his handling of the economy, down from 33% in July. Back in 2018, at this point in the midterm elections, Trump’s economic approval stood at 49%.
When asked to rate the economy, 75% of voters say the economy is either not so good or poor, while 25% rate the economy excellent or good.
Ranking items on an affordability scale, gasoline is listed as being unaffordable for 71% of voters.
Groceries (60%), health care (65%) and going out to dinner (61%) also received high percentages for unaffordable on the scale.
Trump has boasted about the state of the stock market and economic health in recent months, but results from this poll point to the opposite and could lead to the Democratic Party gaining seats in Congress due to affordability being a top issue for voters in this year’s midterm elections.
SPY Stock Action
While Trump receives poor economic ratings, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY), which tracks the S&P 500, remains strong this year. The ETF is up 12% year-to-date and hit record all-time highs earlier this month.
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