Trump’s Approval Rating Dramatically Drops & He is Losing Convincingly to Biden. But Will It Last This Time?

Things have been going very badly for the United States in recent months. There has been a confused, polarized response to the Covid-19 crisis. Then the economy almost collapsed, and tens of millions of Americans have been forced to file for unemployment. Now, there have been unbelievable scenes from protests around the country, following the death of George Floyd because a police officer literally had his knee planted on the back of the man's neck.

All of this has shaken the image of the United States around the world. No longer is the country seen as a beacon of hope and democracy or freedom. In fact, many people feel that this country has fallen dramatically, and almost seems to be voluntarily giving up it's privileged status as the world's leading superpower, and one of the most respected and even revered nations in the world. 

Obviously, this has not been good news for most Americans. And when things are going wrong, most people tend to look at the leadership. Or in this case, what passes for leadership today in Washington.

Of course, I am talking about Donald Trump and his team. This is a man who minimized the threat of the coronavirus crisis for an alarmingly long time, until it blew up to be a pandemic that nobody could ignore any longer. He kept giving false information, from promising that the number of cases would soon go down to zero. It now has over two million confirmed cases, with over 113,000 deaths because of Covid-19, both far and away higher than any other country in the world, more than a quarter of all confirmed cases and deaths in the world, even though it has less than five percent of the world's total population. Still, he sends mixed messages, seems to champion medically unproven (and often unsound) advice and so-called treatments, and clearly does not like wearing masks, even though he advocates others wearing masks. A classic case of "do as I say, not as I do" kind of mentality, exempting himself from the apparent weakness of wearing a mask. 

However, if we saw a kind of half-assed and unclear approach towards the coronavirus crisis from Trump, we did see a clear sense of urgency and definitive action once the stock market collapsed, and the economy started going down the drain. Tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs (and their benefits, in many cases including their healthcare), yet Trump's main focus seems to be making sure that  corporations and the very wealthiest Americans are doing alright.

Now, the Black Lives Matter protests following the brutal killing of George Floyd. Typically, Trump's approach has been predictable and brutal, simply championing ruthless crackdowns. There is no subtlety, no nuance whatsoever to his approach. He and his White House team apparently thought that people would be impressed by the show of strength with the streets around the White House being cleared of peaceful protesters so that Trump himself could pose for a photo in front of a church that he does not attend, with a Bible that he never consults for wisdom or strength, or pretty much anything else. 

To the surprise of nobody outside of the Trump White House, that action was condemned. These were peaceful protesters outraged at police brutality, and exercising their constitutional rights. They were violently cleared of the streets for Trump's obviously political photo op, using the Bible as a prop. How did they ever believe that would go over well? He received deserved condemnation from all over the world, and especially the country. 

And his poll numbers have been slipping. They have slipped before, of course, but never quite this dramatically or quickly. In just the past month, Trump's approval rating has dropped by seven points. Moreover, Biden, his Democratic opponent in the general election later this year, has opened up a double digit lead for the first time.

Clearly, things are not going well for Trump. 

That said, I personally am not getting too excited. After all, most people assumed that Clinton had it in the bag in the lead-up to, and in fact during almost all of the general election, back in 2016. And look what happened. You just know Trump supporters will remain loyal, and will find excuses and try and get their man elected into office for another four undeserved years.

Still, this disastrous presidency has no secrets. The emperor really wears no clothes. It has been a disaster for all to see, and he is being condemned. 

As far as I am concerned, his approval rating was pretty much always too high. He has been nothing but a disgrace, and a serious embarrassment to the country. Yet only weeks ago, his approval rating was at 49 percent, which was, frankly, astonishingly and alarmingly high, given how disastrous his handling of the job has been. 

If that is not a sign that this country has serious problems that go beyond Donald Trump himself, then I simply do not know what is.

That is why I remain skeptical that this will mean some kind of lasting change, or even a departure from Trump, either in terms of his policies, or his cult of personality. And even if he does lose the election, and even if he does not fight that result tooth and nail (as I assume he will if he does, claiming widespread fraud and refusing to acknowledge the results or concede), it is still just Joe Biden who would succeed him. An improvement? Yeah, sure. But not what this country needs, and nothing that will resolve some of the huge problems that it is now facing.

These are dark times in this country's history. 

Trump’s Approval Rating Plummets, Biden’s Lead Swells To 14 Points Tommy Beer Tommy BeerForbes Staff Business, June 8, 2020:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/06/08/trumps-approval-rating-plummets-bidens-lead-balloons-to-14-points/#680e9d6c16a3





Exclusive: Most Americans sympathize with protests, disapprove of Trump's response - Reuters/Ipsos Grant Smith, Joseph Ax, Chris Kahn, June 2, 2020:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-poll-exclusive/exclusive-most-americans-sympathize-with-protests-disapprove-of-trumps-response-reuters-ipsos-idUSKBN239347?fbclid=IwAR3n-Kd_MGZf2tV9ZwzuKNT4sWVKfk-IWUNLDTuEjlnwiJri02vquNN7AdE