Well, that didn’t take long. There is a double edged sword to the news on Trump popularity. First, there is the fact that those who oppose his anti-democratic measures and flattening of the federal government understand that he needs to be leveled in public opinion or there is no way to get rid of him in an election or whatever it may be. Of course, the flip side to that is it takes having the economy get bad – all politicians are eventually evaluated on where the economy stands, it’s just the way it is – and so having the economy turn south is the necessary predicate to Americans souring on the Trump administration and it’s plans. There is no way to get there from here except through economic pain that we, too, experience. For now, the numbers are coming in and they are absolutely unequivocal.
From our good friends at Rawstory, we have this report detailing the quick change in opinion.
“The share of Americans who think the economy is on the wrong track rose to 53% in the latest poll from 43% in the January 24-26 poll,” Reuters writes. “Public approval of Trump’s economic stewardship fell to 39% from 43% in the prior poll.”
That would be 10 points in about a month and that is stunning. Of course, prices are rising, and Trump is attempting to blame Biden but he was elected in November, when the economy begins to reflect the new political reality, and then in office long enough to put forth some policies that are scaring people senseless. As but one example, the CEO of Ford Motor Co. recently said that 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, two nations with massive Ford plants that build the cars we drive (Along with part distributors in both nations forming what is called an economic “ecosystem” according to Tom Friedman of The New York Times, we cannot look at any of this in isolation), these tariffs will result in total destruction of the domestic auto industry. Ford, GM, Dodge, all domestic manufacturers (But especially Ford and GM) make cars in Canada and Mexico, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, BMW, all do not – giving Japanese and European automakers a massive advantage. This is just one example of the domino effect and part of the news that is souring economic expectations.
It is not like voters don’t “get it.” Never underestimate voters or jurors. There is always the temptation to think of regular fellow citizens are somehow lower wattage than you, that you can fool them, or you’re more sophisticated. Hear me, never, ever, underestimate voters or jurors, you cannot fool them and are only fooling yourself in the attempt:
Additionally, the poll found that Trump’s signature economic policy of slapping tariffs on imported goods had become unpopular, with 54 percent of respondents opposed and 41 percent of respondents in favor.
Most of us don’t really understand the details of tariff policy (I don’t) but do understand them on a macro-level. Mostly we understand that there is a reason that free trade was the goal for decades and it seemed to have served us well.
Trump Walks Back Inflation Promise, Blames Biden#Economy #Inflation #Politics #Trump #Biden #Finance pic.twitter.com/47TYoznIdD
— American Muslim Today (@AmericanMuslimT) February 16, 2025
So as said, this is a necessary development to overcoming Trump’s ability to run roughshod over the American landscape, declaring himself king, having no consequences. He is invulnerable right up until he is not. He was elected on a dual combination of voters believing that he was a good steward to the economy and a lot of misogyny hanging out just below the surface of the American electorate. If the bottom falls out of that first belief – the ability to deal with the economy, expect the bottom to fall out of his support. If he becomes a liability to Republican politicians, well – then it is Katie bar the door because many of them were wary of supporting him in the first place and would love an excuse to turn. Approval ratings in the low 30s – very possible if the economy gets really bad – would give them the freedom to move, allowing Democrats to make big gains in Congress in 2026 and then perhaps go from there. Americans have to get away from this danger, a man who thinks himself king:
What the actual fuck?! America, it’s time to rise. When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty!
— Alt National Park Service (@altnps.bsky.social) 2025-02-19T21:24:48.155Z
It is the Left’s only hope. Too bad that we will have to experience the same pain in the economy to get there. It just “is” and no amount of whining will change it.
God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter X at @JasonMiciak and please follow me on Bluesky
Friends, donations have dried up this week and we haven’t gotten any new subscribers. If you’ve already helped, thank you so very much. If you can help a bit, it would be appreciated. We are in a slough of despair with the generalized Democratic depression on top of Q1 revenue rates being the lowest of all year. Thank you. Ursula
A lot of the MAGA goobers who only pay attention to Fox took in the unwelcome message from Trump that they’d have to endure some sacrifice. And for their turd-god orange Emperor they grumbled but indicated they’d put up with it. That they were willing to cut off their noses to spite their faces because “those people” (non-MAGA white folks but black and brown ones in particular) would suffer and probably in the case of non-whites much more than them.
My thoughts were then and still are that that initial reaction from rank and file MAGAs would stick with him, thinking they could “take it.” Well, they can’t. It remains to be seen how long (maybe not as long as I thought) that they’d say ‘f**k this sh*t’ and raise hell with their Congress Critters. And worse for Trump take part in reputable polling and say they disapprove of what he’s up to. I’ve said multiple times in recent years and lately Americans are in general spoiled. In the past I’ve written extensively about my parent’s generation and their parents and the sacrifices they made during WWII. The rationing in particular. It went way the hell beyond gasoline. All manner of items including daily staples such as coffee and sugar for example. Try rationing things like that and see what happens. Wool, leather, rubber (for car tires) and even car purchases themselves were rationed. All manner of foodstuffs in fact so the govt. published excellent pamphlets and manuals on how Americans could produce more of their own food but preserve it. And those books of coupons of rationed items were taken damned seriously. The penalty for those caught cheating was $10k which would be a huge amount today. Imagine what it was for those who got caught (and that shit WAS enforced back then) way back then. A huge sum and/or prison.
Tell me Americans would willingly accept that now for the common good. We wouldn’t. So yes, the time will come when MAGA nation is mightily pissed and the only question is how to not have them dig in (and it’s human nature not to want to admit you’ve been wrong) when convincing them of two truths. First is that it IS all Trump’s fault. Second, he doesn’t effing care!
James Carville thinks the day of reckoning is coming sooner than we think. I hope he’s right. But by the end of this year hundreds of millions of Americans will be living in a world of hurt. If as you suggest Trump’s support has cratered and Democrats do a good job this fall and hang it around EVERY Republican’s neck I imagine an awful lot of Congress Critters are going to voluntarily leave their seats. They will either get primaried out if they try to mitigate Trump’s damage, or get voted out even in places that should be solid Republican seats. Anyone who won with less than a ten percent margin will be in trouble.
Not a chance. It’s as if you believe that people can learn from their mistakes. Oh you naive child, you. These are MAGA’s we’re talking about. Even if the country went to 8% unemployment and one MAGA and all his family lost their jobs, they would STILL vote for Trump because Trump would blame their suffering on Trudeau and Zelensky and the man in the moon and the MAGAs would believe him and vote for him again because only He (the man beside God) could fix what Trudeau et all have done. They literally and truly CANNOT see what is in front of their faces, and they NEVER EVER will. Trump WILL be re-elected no matter what happens. I see no reason for optimism. Sorry 🙁
“free trade was the goal for decades and it seemed to have served us well.”
Many of us Democrats fought against the “free-trade” push of the Clinton years NAFTA, etc.), which Trump is trying to end, but the so-called “trade barriers” of the pre-Free days were not created by punitive tariffs, but simply by the lack of the kinds of huge international trade agreements we have now. It is absolutely true that so-called “Free Trade” has cost the U.S. millions of manufacturing jobs. But tariff trade wars are not the way to end it — they are a disaster. The way to end it is to neutralize some of the trade “advantages” some countries have, like punitive wages and other bad labor conditions, intellectual piracy, artificially low exchange rates, which would also be done by international agreements. Meanwhile, we have had time to adjust to the free Trade system; but I do think it has done damage to the country and led some people to put their faith in a charlatan like Trump. But in his first term he did nothing to help working people, he just spewed a lot of BS; and this time around it’s going to be far, far worse.
The truth is that Trump is not doing this intending any benefit to the country at all. He’s doing it to wreck the economy. It’s a not a bug, it’s a feature. I’m not sure whether he knows it or not, but in taking his cues from people who are either stupid and evil (Heritage Foundation, Koch Brothers, Elon, the MAGA cult and hilmself) or clever and evil (Putin and other foreign Nazis), all he’s doing is taking an ax to this once great nation of ours.
This is a really good comment. Thank you.
jason
You’re welcome, I’m glad you liked it.
I read something just this morning that I think backs it up :
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/alternative-to-trump