Republicans' satisfaction with state of U.S. just fell of a cliff, poll shows


For most of President Trump's presidency, Pew Research polls have showed Republicans remaining consistently satisfied with the state of the country. As recently as April, the number was at 55 percent, but the latest survey tells a different story, as Republican satisfaction with the U.S. tanked all the way down to 19 percent.
The number is still higher than the 7 percent of Democrats who feel the same way, making the overall satisfaction rate among Americans is just 12 percent, but it's a significant change for GOP voters, either way.
The reasons behind the fall aren't made clear, but the rest of the survey indicates it's probably not entirely directed at Trump, who despite a five-point dip from the previous Pew survey still enjoys 78 percent approval from Republicans and Republican-leaning voters. It's reasonable, then, to assume the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis it has created have played a large role in the new wave of pessimism.
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Pew Research Center surveyed 4,708 U.S. adults online between June 16-22. The margin of error is 1.8 percentage points. Read more survey results here.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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