LA Times/Dornsife poll finds Trump voters optimistic

The general disproval rating of the President has reached a historical low with Donald Trump. However, many Trump voters remain staunchly in support of him and express hope and confidence in his future leadership.

According to a poll conducted from April 12 to 26 by the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics and the Center for Economic and Social Research, in conjunction with the Los Angeles Times, President Donald Trump’s core supporters remain stable and optimistic about his direction in the coming months, despite low ratings in America.

The Center for Economic and Social Research surveyed 3,039 adult Americans, 2,584 of whom reported that they voted in the 2016 election. The survey results were weighted to match demographic characteristics such as race and gender as well as population distribution by location in order to ensure a balance between urban and rural residents.

The results showed low approval ratings overall: 40 percent approve, 46 percent disapprove and 14 percent declined to choose.

From his voters, however, Trump has gained support. In a survey conducted in March among the same respondents, 33 percent said they neither approved nor disapproved. In the recent survey, however, a majority of the group responded with approval, helping to buoy Trump’s positive rating to 68 percent and boosting his overall rating by 10 percentage points.

The public’s sense of whether or not the country is on the right track was dependent on their candidate of choice last November. About 87 percent of Clinton voters said the country was on the wrong track, and 87 percent of Trump supporters said it is headed in the right direction. Nearly 75 percent of third-party voters said that it is on the wrong track.

Trump voters were particularly optimistic about job creation (79 percent), and somewhat optimistic that the threat of terrorism would diminish (53 percent) and that the country’s healthcare situation would improve (50 percent). Very few Clinton voters agreed, and only a few thought that situations would improve or stay the same in the coming year.

Around half of respondents gave Trump credit for keeping his promises (53 percent), creating change (52 percent) and representing American values (49 percent). Just over four in 10 people surveyed acknowledged him for giving people like them a voice, inspiring confidence (44 percent) and basing policy on facts (42 percent). Just four in 10 credited him for being ethical and trustworthy. A large majority of Clinton voters also said that the above claims do not tend to apply to Trump.

When respondents were asked how they would vote now, few expressed any regrets: 91.4 percent of Trump voters would back him again, while 89.2 percent of Clinton voters would back her again. About 2.5 percent on each side would not vote at all.

The poll also surveyed voters on topics such as the direction of the country, financial situation in the next 12 months, Trump’s job approval, Trump’s accomplishments, feelings about Trump and his policies and what news sources to trust.

Scientists at the Center for Economic and Social Research who conducted the poll discussed the results Wednesday at the President Trump’s First 100 Days Conference, held at USC’s Town and Gown by the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics.