Almost half of Democrats admit Trump's State of the Union was better than they'd expected

The State of the Union speech went over well.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 2 February 2018

The majority of people who watched President Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday thought he did a "good" or "excellent job," a new Politico/Morning Consult poll has found. While just 20 percent of viewers called the speech "poor," Politico importantly notes that "the sample of speech-watchers was significantly more Republican than the overall electorate," with only 29 percent of respondents being Democrats and 28 percent independents.

Still, the poll is revealing: "Overall, 72 percent of voters said [the State of the Union] was somewhat or much better than they expected — and that includes 46 percent of Democrats," said Morning Consult's chief research officer, Kyle Dropp.

When asked specifically about Trump's speech, 63 percent of respondents called it "optimistic" and "presidential," while just 28 percent said it was "depressing" and 27 percent "boring." Over 60 percent of people who watched the State of the Union also watched Rep. Joe Kennedy III's (D-Mass.) response, although it did not go over as well. While 48 percent said his speech was "excellent" or "good," an additional 46 percent said it was "only fair" or "poor."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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