President Donald Trump's disapproval rating ticked up to his career-high in a new poll out Sept. 29.
In Quinnipiac University's poll of 1,032 registered voters conducted Sept. 24-27, 61% disapprove of how
Trump is handling his job as president, compared to 34% who approve. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. According to the poll, 61% is an all-time high disapproval rating for the president, last reached in a Jan. 18, 2021, poll, after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Trump's approval rating on the economy also dipped past a career-low: Just 31% approved of how he is handling the issue, down from the Sept. 10 poll when 32% approved, according to Quinnipiac. Disapproval on the issue held steady at 65% in both polls.
With the midterm elections weeks away, Trump's approval rating could hurt his own party as they try to retain control of Congress. Historically, a president's party loses ground in Congress in the midterms, as they are seen as a referendum on the presidency.
Polls show 'warning light flashing red' for Republicans
A growing share of voters also want Democrats to win back control of the House of Representatives, according to the Quinnipiac poll. In the Sept. 29 poll, 51% said they would want to see the Democratic Party win control of the House, while 39% want the Republicans to win control of the House. In the previous Sept. 10 poll, 49% of voters wanted to see the Democrats win and 38% wanted to see the Republicans win.
In the most recent poll, a majority of independents, 54%, wanted the Democrats to win compared to 30% who wanted Republicans to win.
But both parties remain unpopular among the electorate: 22% approve of how Democrats are handling their job in Congress, and 26% approve of how Republicans are handling their job. Still, more voters said Democrats would do a better job than Republicans at handling all seven issues polled by Quinnipiac, including healthcare, the cost of living, immigration, corruption in government and artificial intelligence, according to the pollster.
"A warning light flashing red for the GOP scrambling to stay in power. From the economy to international conflicts to AI, independent voters are siding with Democrats, even though a vast majority of them disapprove of the job Democrats are currently doing in Congress," Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement.
What is Trump's average approval rating?
Trump's approval rating in the Quinnipiac poll was slightly worse than Trump's average approval rating. Aggregated by several pollsters, here is where his average approval rating stands as of Sept. 30:
- RealClearPolitics Poll Average: 38.8% approve, 59.6% disapprove
- New York Times: 37% approve, 60% disapprove
- Silver Bulletin: 37.5% approve, 60.1% disapprove
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at KCrowley@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X (Twitter), Threads, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump's disapproval rating matches Jan. 6 peak in new poll
