By Jason Lange
WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Americans picked Democrats over Republicans as better stewards of the economy for the first time in nearly a decade in a Reuters/Ipsos poll, which also found their approval of President Donald Trump’s performance falling to 35%.
The finding, in a poll conducted Wednesday through Monday, showed how Trump’s handling of the economy, including rising energy prices resulting from the Iran war, could weigh on his party’s chances in the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the next two years.
Trump’s presidential approval rating fell to 35% from 37% in a prior Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last month, with the share of Americans who give his presidency a thumbs up within just one percentage point of the lowest level of his term.
Some 37% of registered voters responding to the poll said the Democratic Party has a better approach to the U.S. economy, compared with 36% who picked the Republican Party. Another 27% said they were not sure or that a different party would do a better job.
Republicans had held the advantage on the economy through most of Trump’s first term in office in 2017-2021, through all of Democratic President Joe Biden’s four years in power and into Trump’s second term. A Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded in May 2017 gave Democrats an edge, though the question was asked differently, with no option for respondents to say they were not sure or that a different party would do better.
DETERIORATING REPUBLICAN EDGE
The Republican edge on the economy has steadily deteriorated during Trump’s current term, narrowing to zero in recent months as U.S. household finances suffered from soaring gasoline prices following the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran in February and the war that has been simmering ever since.
Trump has said he ordered the strikes and ensuing conflict to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, curb its ability to attack regional rivals and create conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers. But gasoline prices have surged by more than 25% since the war started, with Americans on average paying more than a dollar extra per gallon at the pump.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted online and nationwide, found 42% of registered voters would vote for a Democrat in congressional elections and 37% would vote Republican if the contest were held now. Independents in the poll picked Democrats over Republicans by 12 percentage points. Republicans will be defending narrow congressional majorities in the November 3 elections.
While the poll presents a picture of the national political mood, the actual elections for the U.S. Congress are more complex. Of the 435 House of Representatives seats, only about three dozen are expected to be competitive, while about eight Senate seats are expected to be competitive.
Trump has repeatedly dismissed widespread polling showing Americans unhappy with his leadership. On Monday morning, ahead of the release of the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, he posted to his Truth Social account: “My REAL Polling Numbers, not those made up by the Fake News Media, are the best they have ever been.”
The Reuters/Ipsos poll gathered responses from 4,505 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Scott Malone and Edmund Klamann)
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