SHOCK POLL: Majority Believe Trump Has Hurt Economy — Just 2 in 10 Say He’s Helped

Giada Papini Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire/Sipa USA via AP Images

Donald Trump boasted a strong advantage over his Democratic opponents — former President Joe Biden, and then his vice president, Kamala Harris — on the economy during last year’s race for the White House.

But a new poll from Pew Research found that while voters enjoyed the idea of a Trump at the helm, a majority believe that the effect of his policies on the economy has been to make it worse.

According to the survey of 3,445 American adults conducted between September 22 and 28, 53% of the country believes that Trump has made economic conditions worse. Just 24%, meanwhile, say that he’s improved them. The same poll also found that just 26% of respondents would evaluate the economy as being excellent or good, including only 44% of those who identify as Republicans or who lean Republican.

Seventy-four percent, meanwhile, say the economy is either fair or poor.

Among that latter cohort, high inflation (17%), tariffs (12%), and the “high cost of living” (9%) were the top reasons listed for why they evaluated the economy as being fair or poor. “Negative mentions of Trump/GOP” came in at 16%.

The figures differ wildly from Pew results from November 2018, near the midpoint of Trump’s first term, when 59% of the country said the economy was in excellent or good condition.

Despite the dismal figures for Trump, most polls still show that the GOP is more trusted on the economy than their Democratic counterparts.

“Who leads on the economy? Republicans by seven. Immigration? Republicans by 13. How about crime? A big issue for Donald Trump and the Republicans. Look at that lead, by 22 points!” marveled CNN’s Harry Enten during a mid-September segment about the midterms. “So the bottom line is, at this particular point, the ball may be on the ground, but the Democrats have not picked up the ball and running with it. If anything, at this particular point, it’s the Republicans who are running with the ball on the top issues, the economy, immigration and crime.”