A new poll indicates that for the first time since US President Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory, more voters say the US economy is getting worse rather than better, a new warning sign for Trump’s re-election bid.
A Quinnipiac University poll found that 37 percent of those questioned said the economy’s getting worse, with 31 percent saying conditions are getting better.
A Quinnipiac poll conducted in June showed that Americans, by a 39-23 percent margin, said the US economy was improving.
The survey suggests that by a 41-37 percent margin, US voters feel Trump’s policies are hurting the economy.
“Roughly 4 in 10 voters blame the President's policies, saying they are hurting the economy, the highest level since Trump took office,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Mary Snow highlighted.
The same poll also showed Trump losing to all top Democratic presidential candidates in a hypothetical general election.
The poll comes amid worries over an escalating trade war with China, a slowing global economy, and concerns about a potential recession in the US.
A dip in public confidence in the economy could be an electoral disaster for Trump. As the Republican president runs for re-election in 2020, he has repeatedly touted the robust health of America’s economy.
The economy is crucial to any president seeking a second term, but few have wrapped themselves in the issue as tightly as Trump.
The president has increasingly expressed anxiety to advisers that a downturn would harm his re-election chances. He has lashed out repeatedly at Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates further and faster.
Trump has also complained that the news media and his political opponents are cheerleading for a recession to take him down.