Reuters/Ipsos Core Political Survey: Presidential Approval Tracker (12/10/2020)

Washington, DC, December 10, 2020 –   The latest Reuters/Ipsos Core Political survey finds that Americans remain concerned about the direction of the country, with most saying the nation is off on the wrong track. No single issue stands out as the most important problem facing the country, instead Americans remain split between several main problems, like the economy and jobs, healthcare, and the coronavirus pandemic. President Donald Trump’s approval rating continues to be consistent, with more Americans disapproving than approving of his job performance. A majority of Americans approve of how President-elect Joe Biden is managing his role.

Fewer than a quarter of Americans (23%) say the country is headed in the right direction, and 63% say the nation is off on the wrong track. Both metrics are unchanged from last week. 

• Just 31% of Republican registered voters say the country is headed in the right direction, which is one of the lowest numbers Reuters/Ipsos has recorded all year for Republicans. Just 20% of Democratic registered voters say the country is headed in the right direction.

The economy and jobs are the top concerns for 30% of Americans, followed by healthcare (18%), and 18% volunteer issues like the coronavirus pandemic as the major concern.

• Republican registered voters are most likely to say that the economy and jobs (35%) are the biggest problem, followed by other issues (17%), like the coronavirus.
• Democratic registered voters are torn between healthcare (25%) and the economy and jobs (26%) as the biggest problems that face the country. Twenty-two percent also volunteer other issues, like the coronavirus.
• Independent registered voters are concerned with the economy and jobs (30%), healthcare (23%) and other issues (21%).

More than half of Americans approve of how Joe Biden is handling his position as president-elect (56%).

• Nine in ten Democratic registered voters approve (91%), compared to just 23% of Republican registered voters. More than half of independent registered voters approve (56%).

Forty-one percent of Americans approve of how Donald Trump is handling his position as president.

• Republican registered voters are most likely to approve of Trump’s job performance (82%), while Democratic registered voters are least likely to approve (9%).
• Independent registered voters are also critical of the President’s job performance, with just 29% reporting they approve.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between December 2-8, 2020 on behalf of Thomson Reuters. For this survey, a sample of 4,419 Americans age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were interviewed online in English. The sample includes 3,812 registered voters, 1,876 Democratic registered voters, 1,424 Republican registered voters, and 391 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 ± 1.7 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 ± 1.8 percentage points for all registered voters, ± 2.6 percentage points for Democratic registered voters, ± 3.0 percentage points for Republican registered voters, and ± 5.7 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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