President Donald Trump continues to command broad support among Republicans, but a new NBC News poll finds that fewer Republicans are expressing that support in the strongest terms, even as his overall approval rating has fallen to a new low in the survey. The distinction may matter in a midterm year because strongly held views of a president have historically been associated with greater certainty of voting.
The NBC News Decision Desk Poll, conducted with SurveyMonkey from Aug. 20 to Sept. 1, found that 36 percent of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s overall job performance and 64 percent disapproved. The 36 percent figure was one point below the spring survey and marked a new low for Trump in NBC News Decision Desk polling during his current term.
Among Republicans, however, 80 percent still approved. The shift came inside that majority: 41 percent said they strongly approved of Trump’s performance, down from 52 percent in the spring, while the share who somewhat approved increased from 31 percent to 39 percent.
It was the first time in NBC News Decision Desk polling that strong approval of Trump among Republicans had fallen below 50 percent.
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