President Donald Trump's approval rating remains about the same and Democrats' generic ballot lead in the midterms is shrinking, according to an Emerson College poll released on Aug. 20.
In the new poll, 39.5% of likely voters say they approve of Trump, while 55.8% disapprove. Emerson's July poll was similar, with 39.2% of likely voters approving of the president and 56.7% of them disapproving.
“President Trump’s job approval has been relatively steady in the past several months, with about 2 in 5 likely voters approving of the President, driven by consistent ratings among Republicans, 86% of whom approve of the president,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in the poll's release statement.
Also in the new poll,
Democrats' lead on the generic ballot for the 2026 midterms shrank. In July, Democrats led by 11.4 percentage points, and the new August numbers show only a 7.7 percentage point lead for Democrats over Republicans in November's midterms.
Between the July and August polling, more states hosted primaries and solidified their candidates for November's general election matchups. Democrats saw notable wins by progressive left candidates, some of whom are self-proclaimed democratic socialists. More established party moderates have raised alarms at the electability of these candidates over concerns that they won't win over independent and moderate Democratic voters in November.
In the August poll, 23.3% of likely voters considered themselves supporters of the Democratic Socialists of America, the organized group that not all identifying supporters of the ideology are members of. For example, New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the group, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who says he is a democratic socialist, is not a DSA member.
“Forty-six percent of Democrats consider themselves DSA supporters, while 30% do not and 25% are not sure. This is concentrated among younger members of the party," Kimball explained in the press release that detailed disproportioned support from Democrats under and over 50 years old.
The economy remains a top concern for Americans, too, with 36.5% of August respondents citing economic factors like inflation, jobs and taxes as the most important issue in the United States. The second- and third-place issues were threats to democracy (15.8%) and health care (15.5%). This reflects a notable rise, as in July only 27.1% of likely voters thought economic factors were the most important issue, while threats to democracy ranked first at 28.3%.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump approval rating stagnant, Dems' generic ballot lead shrinks: New poll
