Reuters/Ipsos Core Political Survey: Presidential Approval Tracker (08/05/2020)
Washington, DC, August 5, 2020 – In the newest edition of the Reuters/Ipsos Core Political Tracker, Americans continue to be deeply concerned with the direction of the country. The economy and jobs are again at the top of mind for many Americans, followed by healthcare and other issues. President Donald Trump’s approval rating remains stable but low. Americans view his approach to the coronavirus critically, giving him the lowest marks out of all of the issues Reuters/Ipsos tracks. Among registered voters, former Vice President Joe Biden maintains his lead over President Trump in the race for the White House.
About seven in ten registered voters say that the country is headed in the wrong direction (69%), one of the highest numbers of the Trump administration.
- Republican registered voters are a bit more optimistic this week, with 46% reporting the country is on the right track, up six points from last week.
- Democratic registered voters believe the country is headed off on the wrong track (91%), up four points from two weeks ago.
Americans remain divided on the main problems facing the country, with 31% saying the economy and jobs are the most important problem (up four points from last week), and 19% reporting healthcare is the main issue.
- About 17% of Americans continue to volunteer that other issues are the main problem, citing the coronavirus pandemic, partisanship on both sides of the aisle, and the Trump administration as the main issues.
- Democratic registered voters report that both the economy and jobs (27%) are equally concerning right now as healthcare (28%). About 18% of Democratic registered voters volunteer issues like coronavirus, racism and the current administration as the main issues.
- Republican registered voters are primarily focused on the economy and jobs (37%), and just 10% are concerned with healthcare. About 17% of Republican registered voters cite other issues as the main problem, volunteering coronavirus, crime, and Democratic partisans as the most important problems.
Thirty-nine percent of Americans approve of President Trump’s overall job performance.
- Eighty-one percent of Republican registered voters approve of Trump’s job performance compared to just 8% of Democratic registered voters.
- About 38% of Americans approve of his response to the coronavirus pandemic, which is the lowest approval rating Trump receives on any given issue Reuters/Ipsos is currently tracking.
Vote share for both President Trump (38%) and former Vice President Biden (48%) remain stable among registered voters.
- Trump continues to receive strong support from his party, with 84% of Republican registered voters saying they would vote for Trump if the election were held today.
- Biden receives equally strong support from Democratic registered voters (87%).
About the Study
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between August 3-4, 2020 on behalf of Thomson Reuters. For this survey, a sample of 1,115 Americans age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were interviewed online in English. The sample includes 964 registered voters, 440 Democratic registered voters, 400 Republican registered voters and 83 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 ± 3.3 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 ± 3.6 percentage points for all registered voters, ± 5.3 percentage points for Democratic registered voters, ± 5.6 percentage points for Republican registered voters, and ± 12.3 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]
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