As the highly anticipated midterm elections get near, President Donald Trump’s approval rating fell in a recent NBC News poll, and more voters condemned his management of the economy.
According to the Sept. 20 poll, 55% of people believe that Trump’s policies have harmed the economy, and his approval rating among registered voters fell to a second-term low of 41%.
In March, 48% of voters told NBC that they think Trump has harmed the economy, and between March and September, they listed the cost of living as the country’s top concern. The prolonged conflict with Iran has increased gasoline prices and other costs, according to NBC pollsters.
When asked who they would prefer to run Capitol Hill, respondents gave Democrats a 5-point advantage overall in the fight for control of Congress (50%–45%). However, that is fewer than their 12-point lead at this stage of the 2018 election cycle, according to NBC polling.
Democrats took a bigger hit in the popularity stakes than Trump and the GOP, with voters still sour on the party nearly two years after Kamala Harris’s 2024 election defeat.
Just 29% of voters said they viewed Democrats positively, compared with 50% who held a negative view. The GOP fared slightly better, with 36% positive and 49% negative.
November’s elections are shaping up as a major showdown for both parties, with Democrats taking the fight into traditionally Republican-leaning Senate battlegrounds including Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas.
They are also targeting the House, where a Democratic takeover could put the brakes on Trump’s agenda. The party pulled off a similar upset in the 2018 midterms, riding a so-called “blue wave” to seize control of the chamber.
Midterm elections typically present significant challenges for the party of the current president. According to NBC, Republicans performed worse than Democrats in the study on handling the economy (38%–39%) and inflation (31%–38%). Furthermore, almost 60% of people believe the conflict in Iran has not been worthwhile.
The margin of error for the NBC poll, which surveyed 1,000 registered voters online and by phone between Sept. 11 and 15, is 3 percentage points.
The worries go beyond surveys.
Republican senators candidly acknowledged the strategic choices the party may soon have to make to maintain its Senate majority in a report Semafor released this week.
The outlet was informed by an unidentified Republican senator that GOP officials ought to consider diverting funds from races where candidates are struggling to gain momentum, particularly in Georgia and North Carolina.
