Reuters/Ipsos Core Political Survey: Presidential Approval Tracker (09/02/2020)

Washington, DC, September 2, 2020 –   Heading into the Labor Day weekend, the Reuters/Ipsos’ Core Political shows that Americans remain deeply concerned about the direction of the country. People view the economy, jobs, healthcare, coronavirus and civil unrest, as the main problems facing the country. President Donald Trump’s approval rating remains unchanged. Following both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, former Vice President Joe Biden maintains a narrow lead over President Donald Trump among registered voters in the race for the White House.

Sixty-five percent of registered voters say the country is headed off on the wrong track, unchanged from last week.

• More than half of Republican registered voters say the country is headed in the right direction (54%), up by four points from last week, but down about 20 points from February of this year.
• Democratic registered voters remain pessimistic about the direction of the country, with 89% saying the country is headed off on the wrong right track.

Thirty percent of Americans say the economy and jobs are the most important problem facing the country. Partisanship dictates perceptions on the importance of other major issues.

• Democratic registered voters are split between the importance of healthcare (25%) and the economy and jobs (28%). Republican registered voters say the economy and jobs are the most important issue (31%), followed by morality (13%), other issues (13%), and crime (11%).
• Sixteen percent of Americans volunteer other problems, including the coronavirus, partisan politics, racial injustice, and civil unrest as the main issues facing the country.

Forty-one percent of Americans approve of the job Donald Trump is doing as president, unchanged from last week.

• Republican registered voters strongly support the president, with 88% approving of the job he is doing as chief executive, up by five points from last week.
• In contrast to the Republicans’ approval rating, the same proportion of Democratic registered voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing (91%).

If the election for president were held today, 47% of registered voters say they would vote for Biden, while 40% say they would vote for Trump, unchanged from last week.

• About a quarter of independent registered voters say they would vote for Trump (24%), while 38% say they would vote for Biden. Fourteen percent say they would vote for another candidate, and 17% say they are unsure for whom they would vote.
• Both candidates receive strong support from their respective parties, with 89% of Democratic registered voters saying they would vote for Biden and 85% of Republican registered voters saying they would vote for Trump.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between August 28-September 1, 2020 on behalf of Thomson Reuters. For this survey, a sample of 1,335 Americans age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were interviewed online in English. The sample includes 1,089 registered voters, 480 Democratic registered voters, 460 Republican registered voters, and 116 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 ± 3.4 percentage points for all registered voters, ± 5.1 percentage points for Democratic registered voters, ± 5.2 percentage points for Republican registered voters, and ± 10.4 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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