The New York Times and other liberal outlets have been promoting the idea that many 2024 Trump voters regret their votes because they consider the administration’s actions, in particular in dealing with illegal immigration, to be “too extreme.” Others say Trump is doing exactly what he said he would do, and what the voters elected him to do.
Rasmussen tailored questions along those lines, beginning with:
Which is closer to your opinion, that Donald Trump has done too much of what he promised during the campaign, or that he has not done enough of what he promised? Or has Trump been about right in terms of keeping his campaign promises?
Rasmussen interprets the results optimistically:
Not many voters think President Donald Trump has gone beyond his campaign promises in his second term, and there is not much evidence of “buyer’s remorse” among the electorate.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that only 12% of Likely U.S. Voters believe Trump has done too much of what he promised during the campaign, while 38% think he has not done enough of what he promised. Thirty-one percent (31%) say Trump has been about right in terms of keeping his campaign promises.
But the numbers on “buyer’s remorse,” while not terrible, are not great, either:
Forty-five percent (45%) say that, knowing what they know now, if they could go back to the 2024 election, they would vote for Trump, while 46% would vote for Kamala Harris and nine percent (9%) are not sure. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of those who voted for Trump in last year’s election would not change their vote, compared to 91% of Harris voters.
Given that in the 2024 election Trump got 50% of the votes to Harris’s 48% (rounded), that is a not insignificant erosion. Not surprising, given the way the press has pounded away against Trump and his administration, but still of concern, I think.
Separately, Rasmussen’s presidential approval survey shows Trump at 47% approve, 51% disapprove. That, too, is not good but is probably about as well as a president is likely to do in today’s environment.
None of this makes much difference until the midterm elections. But certainly I don’t see any indication, here or in other polling, that Republicans are likely to pull a rabbit out of the hat and stave off a Democratic takeover of the House.
