Latest news with #approvalratings


New York Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Mike Johnson Would Like You to Know About His Subservience
On Friday, during an interview on CNBC, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, claimed that President Trump was among the most popular people to ever occupy the Oval Office. The president is the most maligned and attacked political figure in the history of American politics. There's no question about it, but he's also the most resilient. And you see at the same time, his approval ratings are skyrocketing. CNN had a story, I think, a day or two ago. He was at 90 percent approval rating. There's never been a president that high. You can decide for yourself if you think this president is 'the most maligned and attacked political figure in the history of American politics' (Abraham Lincoln might disagree), but it is frankly ludicrous to say that Trump's approval ratings are 'skyrocketing' or that he represents a high-water mark of presidential popularity. Recent surveys from YouGov, Quinnipiac University, The Associated Press-NORC and Reuters/Ipsos place Trump at roughly 40 percent approval. CNN, contra Johnson, puts Trump at 42 percent approval and 56 percent disapproval. Overall, according to the Strength in Numbers presidential approval average, 42.6 percent of Americans approve of the president's performance while 53.5 percent disapprove, for a net negative of -10.9 points, a low for his second term so far. But the substance of Johnson's absurd claim about the president's popularity is less interesting to me than the fact that he would even say it. The House speaker's assertion that Trump was at a '90 percent approval rating' is the kind of falsehood you might hear from authoritarian state media. It is a servile display of allegiance as much as it is an attempt to mislead viewers. It's Johnson telling Trump he is his man. In the neo-republican ideology that shaped the American founding, civic virtue is a key part of self-government. A corrupt people cannot, in this vision, form a free government. 'Just as good customs require laws in order to be maintained,' Machiavelli observed, 'so laws require good customs in order to be observed.' For Frederick Douglass — the great abolitionist and thinker whose political philosophy was shaped by republican thinking — virtue includes self-respect, cultivated through education, and self-reliance. 'Liberty has its manners as well as slavery,' Douglass wrote to the Black abolitionist and journalist Martin Delany in 1871, 'and with those manners true self-respect goes hand in hand with a just respect for the rights and feelings of others.' My immediate thought upon seeing Johnson's performance on air was to reflect on this relationship between self-respect and self-government. To tell such egregious lies for the approval of some higher authority is to prostrate yourself — to show, for the world to see, your lack of self-respect. This becomes all the more egregious when one considers that Mike Johnson, as speaker of the House of Representatives, is more an equal to the president, in the American constitutional order, than he is a subordinate. He should have the dignity, at least, to act as a peer and not a supplicant. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
'There's never been a president that high!' the speaker of the House said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson dropped some jaws to the floor by suggesting Donald Trump is currently netting ratings that'd make a North Korean despot blush. 'The president is the most maligned and attacked political figure in the history of American politics,' he told CNBC. 'But he's also the most resilient. You see at the same time, his approval ratings are skyrocketing.' 'CNN had a story, I think a day or two ago, he was at 90 percent approval rating,' Johnson added. 'There's never been a president that high!'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Watch: Mike Johnson claims Trump's approval rating is at 90%
This is the moment Mike Johnson claimed Donald Trump's approval ratings are 'skyrocketing'. The House Speaker made the remarks during an interview with CNBC on Friday (July18). Johnson declared that while Trump is 'the most attacked political figure in the history of American politics,' he is also the most 'resilient'. 'And you see at the same time, his approval ratings are skyrocketing,' the Speaker continued. 'CNN had a story, I think a day or two ago, he was at a 90% approval rating. There's never been a president that high.' Trump's current approval rating stands at 44%, according to a Morning Consult poll released Monday (14 July).
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Congressional Dems' Approval Hits Record Low
Even as the MAGA movement eats its own tail in response to Donald Trump and his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, Democrats are netting record-low approval ratings. According to a Wednesday poll released by Quinnipiac University, approval of congressional Democrats is down to a historic low of just 19 percent. Seventy-two percent of those polled said they outright disapproved, while 10 percent didn't give an opinion. 'This is a record low since March 2009 when the Quinnipiac University Poll first began asking this question of registered voters,' the university wrote. Even among registered Democrats, approval for the minority party is underwater: '39 percent approve of the way the Democrats in Congress are handling their job, while 52 percent disapprove and nine percent did not offer an opinion,' the poll found. This is compared to 77 percent of registered Republicans who approve of the way their party is performing in Congress. 'If the approval numbers for Republicans are bad … then the approval numbers for Democrats can be characterized as flat out terrible,' Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement released along with the survey results. A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released earlier this week also found the Democratic Party trending in the wrong direction, with an approval rating of 40 percent and a disapproval rating of 60 percent, with both numbers worse than they were in June. 'Democrats are doing a good job throwing jabs at the administration but that's not helping them with their own image, which remains in the cellar,' Mark Penn, chair of the Harris Poll, told The Hill in an email. Democrats have not mounted much resistance to Trump and the GOP's dismantling of the federal government or constitutional abuses since the president took office for the second time in January. The party hasn't had much recourse considering Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but their attempts to hold the administration in check have largely been symbolic. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) gave a lengthy floor speech to briefly delay the passage of the so-called 'Big Beautiful Bill,' which is expected to result in millions of Americans losing their health coverage, earlier this month. Jeffries also posted a photo of himself holding a baseball bat, promising that Democrats 'will keep the pressure on Trump's One Big Ugly Bill.' The bill passed, of course, and Trump mocked Jeffries at a signing ceremony the following day. Democrats are currently trying to make hay out of the Trump administration's shambolic handling of the Epstein files. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) introduced an amendment to the GENIUS Act, a cryptocurrency bill, calling for the files to be released. Republicans voted the measure down. 'Something that we are seeing now as part of the strategy is making sure people know: if Donald Trump doesn't have your back on [the Epstein files] — which has been such a big part of Republican Party and MAGA lore for years — what else does he not have your back on?' asks Pat Dennis, president of the Democratic research group American Bridge 21st Century. 'Does he not have your back on Medicaid? On Social Security? On the economy? On public safety issues?' Trump may not have Americans' back on the issues affecting them, but he and Republicans are poised to stay in power unless Democrats can convince the country they have what it takes to deliver where the other side is failing. So far, they haven't been able to do so. More from Rolling Stone IRS Rules Churches Can Endorse Candidates. A Progressive Pastor Says That's Great Nicki Minaj Goes on Social Media Tirade Against Megan Thee Stallion, Jay-Z, Roc Nation Trump Signs Bill to Kick Millions Off Health Care Into Law Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence


Free Malaysia Today
6 days ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Japan's ruling coalition at risk of losing upper house majority
PM Shigeru Ishiba's administration has seen approval ratings slide amid rising living costs and higher prices for Japan's staple rice. (EPA Images pic) TOKYO : Japan's ruling coalition will likely lose its majority in the upper house election on July 20, the Asahi newspaper said on Tuesday, heightening the risk of political instability at a time the country struggles to strike a trade deal with the US. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito will likely struggle to retain the 50 seats needed to defend its majority in the upper house of parliament, the Asahi said. The LDP will likely win just around 35 seats, the paper said. The LDP currently hold 52 seats. The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) yield rose to 1.595% on Tuesday, a level unseen since October 2008, as investors brace for the possible loss of fiscal hawk Ishiba as straining Japan's already frail finances. Small opposition parties like the Democratic Party for the People and Sanseito, which have called for cutting Japan's sales tax rate, are likely to increase the number of seats they hold in the chamber, the Asahi said. Ishiba's administration has seen approval ratings slide as the rising cost of living, including the soaring price of Japan's staple rice, hit households. 'As during the previous campaigns, inflation remains a top concern for the public, putting the coalition on the defensive. Ishiba's low approval ratings reflect voter dissatisfaction with the status quo,' David Boling, a director at consulting firm Eurasia Group, said in a research note, adding he sees a 60% chance of the ruling coalition losing its majority. 'Whether Ishiba steps down will hinge on how many seats the coalition loses,' he added. Asahi said its report was based on phone and internet surveys conducted on voters July 13-14, as well as research nationwide by the newspaper's journalists.