Voters have plunged from optimistic about Trump's 'next few years' to pessimistic in just a few weeks


Another day, another startling poll about how Americans view President Trump. Today's major revelation: Voters' optimism in Trump's remaining tenure has dramatically dropped in three months' time.
In a new Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday, 45 percent of voters said they were optimistic about Trump's "next few years" as president while 52 percent said they were pessimistic. Compare that with how voters felt in March: When asked the same question then, 52 percent said they were optimistic and 46 percent said they were pessimistic.
Trump's overall job approval rating, however, hasn't fluctuated dramatically. In the survey released Wednesday, he was approved of by 37 percent of voters and disapproved of by 55 percent. In the March survey, he was approved of by 36 percent of voters and disapproved of by 58 percent.
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The poll additionally found that a majority of voters (54 percent to 43 percent) believe Trump "is abusing the powers of his office." "President Donald Trump remains mired in dreadful mid-30s approval numbers and the red flags that are popping up tell an even darker story," said the assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll, Tim Malloy. "Retirement age voters are leaving in big numbers. But by far the most alarming determination is that President Trump is abusing his office."
A total of 1,404 respondents were reached by Quinnipiac between May 17 and 23; the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 points. See the full results here.
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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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