NBC NEWS/WSJ POLL: PUBLIC GIVES PRESIDENT TRUMP A THUMBS DOWN ON RUSSIA, THUMBS UP ON THE ECONOMY
President’s Approval Rating at 45 Percent, Up One Point from June
65 Percent of Voters Believe Russia Interfered in the 2016 Election
Democrats’ Midterm Lead Shrinks to Six Points, Top Midterm Issues: Economy and Jobs
JULY 22, 2018 – Majorities of American voters disapprove of President Trump’s handling of Russia and immigration at the border, while half approve of his job on the economy, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
In the poll – half of which was conducted before and the day of Trump’s July 16 press conference in Helsinki with Putin, the other half afterward – just 26 percent approve of the president’s handling of the relationship between the United States and Russia. Fifty-one percent disapprove.
Trump’s overall job-approval rating in the poll stands at 45 percent among registered voters – up one point from June; 52 percent of voters disapprove of his job.
While voters’ beliefs on Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation are essentially unchanged from last month, other Russia-related numbers have moved, including 65 percent of voters believing the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election (up 12 points from a year ago). 41 percent say the interference affected the election’s outcome (up 8 points from a year ago).
With the midterm elections four months out, 49 percent of voters prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress as the outcome for November’s midterm elections, versus 43 percent who want Republicans to stay in charge. That six-point lead in congressional preference for Democrats is down from last month’s ten-point margin, 50 percent to 40 percent, though the difference is well within the survey’s margin of error.
A combined 36 percent of voters say the economy and jobs are the top issues that will decide their November votes, with health care following with 33 percent.
Read more results from the new poll, including voters on the president’s handling of North Korea and the separated migrant families at the border.
More numbers from the new poll will release tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET.
PLEASE CREDIT: NBC NEWS/WALL STREET JOURNAL
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For more information, contact:
Olivia Petersen
NBC News
o: (202) 885-4159
e: olivia.petersen@nbcuni.com
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