If you are still nursing a figurative hangover from the never-ending 2016 presidential race, new polling from NBC News/Wall Street Journal may trigger some emotional discomfort, but early numbers for President Trump's presumed 2020 re-election campaign are in, and they aren't great. Only 18 percent of Americans say they would definitely support Trump next go-around, the poll found, while another 18 percent would probably back him, 38 percent would definitely vote against him, and 14 percent would probably vote for whatever Democrat is on the ballot.
If you're keeping score, that's 36 percent for Trump, 52 percent for Generic Democrat.
In comparison, only 14 percent of Americans told NBC/WSJ pollsters they would definitely vote for a generic Republican over President Bill Clinton in December 1993, after a tough first year for Clinton. There is a predictable partisan split in the Trump 2020 numbers, with 43 percent of Republicans saying they will definitely support Trump and 73 percent of Democrats saying they will definitely vote against him. Trump has lost ground among key demographics, with only 47 percent of white voters without a college degree saying they will definitely or probably vote for Trump and 43 percent of rural voters giving a definite thumbs-up.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted Dec. 13-15 among 900 adults and it has an overall margin of error of ±3.3 percentage points.
-
Mexico’s forced disappearancesUnder the Radar 130,000 people missing as 20-year war on drugs leaves ‘the country’s landscape ever more blood-soaked’
-
The Week contest: Racoon’s regretsPuzzles and Quizzes
-
Housing costs: Is deregulation the answer?Feature Washington, D.C.’s NoMa neighborhood is now leading the nation in new apartment construction
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
