Reuters/Ipsos Core Political Survey: Presidential Approval Tracker (01/06/2021)

Washington, DC, January 6, 2021 –   The most recent Reuters/Ipsos Core Political survey, fielded before the Senate runoff elections in Georgia and the unrest at the United State Capitol today, shows that most Americans believe the country is on the wrong track. The economy and jobs, healthcare and other issues, like coronavirus, continue to be at the top of mind for many Americans as the biggest problems the country faces. About two in five Americans approve of how Donald Trump is handling his position as president. A majority of Americans approve of President-elect Joe Biden.

Just one in five Americans say that the country is heading in the right direction (20%), while 65% say the country is off on the wrong track.  

• Republican registered voters’ pessimism is up 11 percentage points from late December, with 65% reporting the country is heading off on the wrong track this week, compared to 54% ahead of the Christmas holiday. Sixty-seven percent of Democratic registered voters say the country is heading off on the wrong track, statistically unchanged from late December (70%).

Americans remain divided on what is the most important issue facing the country.

• Thirty percent of Americans say the economy and jobs are the most important problems, followed by 19% who say it is healthcare, and 17% who volunteer other issues, like coronavirus.
• Democratic registered voters are split between the economy and jobs (26%) and healthcare (27%) as the most pressing issues. Republican registered voters say the economy and jobs (32%) are the most important problems, followed distantly by other issues (15%), like coronavirus, morality (14%) and healthcare (13%).

A majority of Americans approve of how Joe Biden is handling his position as president-elect (55%).

• Ninety-one percent of Democratic registered voters approve of Biden, while just 21% of Republican registered voters approve.

President Trump’s approval rating is 38% among all Americans.

• Trump continues to receive strong support from the his Republican base (77% approve), while just 9% of Democratic registered voters approve of his handling of the presidency.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between January 4-5, 2020 on behalf of Thomson Reuters. For this survey, a sample of 1,324 Americans age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were interviewed online in English. The sample includes 1,133 registered voters, 552 Democratic registered voters, 431 Republican registered voters, and 108 independent registered voters. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Americans been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. The poll also has a credibility interval of ± 3.3 percentage points for all registered voters, ± 4.8 percentage points for Democratic registered voters, ± 5.4 percentage points for Republican registered voters, and ± 10.8 percentage points for independent registered voters.  

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

Kate Silverstein
Media Relations, US
Public Affairs
+1 718 755-8829
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is the world’s third largest market research company, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.

Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. We serve more than 5,000 clients across the world with 75 business solutions.

Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1st, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and the Mid-60 index and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).

ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP www.ipsos.com