‘Trump Regretters’: Number Of People Who Regret Voting For Donald Is Increasing
A national poll released last week shows that a steadily increasing number of people who voted for Trump at the 2016 general election are joining a category of voters dubbed “Trump regretters,” that is, people who voted for Trump in November but have since changed their minds or have serious doubts that they made the right voting choice.
The new PSB Research survey conducted last week found that 11 percent of the general population identified themselves as “Trump regretters.”
Trump regretters, according to Politico, consist of Trump voters who have changed their minds about supporting him and voters who were formerly unenthusiastic about Clinton and did not cast ballots in the last general election but who say they would now vote against Trump if they had the opportunity.
The poll also found that although a majority of Trump voters still feel that Trump is keeping his promises, improving the economy and keeping America safe, only 39 percent of Trump voters agreed with the statement that he is “surrounding himself with the best people,” compared with 50 percent who agreed with the same statement last month.
This represents a dramatic drop of 11 percent in only one month.
Similarly, an increasing number of Trump voters are agreeing with the statement that Trump is “going too far” and that he his allowing himself to be “sidetracked by things that aren’t important.”
The poll found, specifically, that 35 percent of those surveyed agreed that “Trump is going too far.” Thirty-five percent also agreed that he is “getting sidetracked by things that aren’t important.”
Democrats are hunting for the "Trump Regretters" – Axios https://t.co/bQ9ZkFddDb
— Dolly Langa (@ya_dolly) March 19, 2017
To Trump Regretters: A book about why Trump is having such a difficult time: Trumpty Dumpty. @trumpregrets @trump_regret @trump_regrets pic.twitter.com/mP3y9L0CeA
— Changemakers (@changepublish) March 19, 2017
The new poll which implies that the support for Trump among his base is waning comes after Trump tweeted a warning that “any negative polls” about him “are fake news.”
Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election. Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2017
But Margie Omero, executive vice president of public affairs at PSB Research, said Trump should be very concerned about polls that show that he is losing support among his base because “he has no crossover appeal.”
Omera cited results of polls conducted by other polling agencies, such as Gallup, that found that while hardcore Trump supporters who form his base tend to be very loyal and steadfast, he is relatively weak among independent voters and exceptionally unpopular among Democrat-leaning voters. This means that he is considerably less likely to attract new supporters from among independents and Democrats.
“[Trump] has no crossover appeal,” Omero said in an interview with the blog MarieClaire.”So if he starts to slip with his base—as he has in our poll—where does he have room to grow?”
“He has to hold onto his base going into the midterms,” she added. “If this slide continues, he is going to have some serious trouble.”
Omero also observed that despite having won the election and moved into the White House, Trump is still operating as if he is still campaigning. He is having difficulty evolving a strategy that reflects his transition from a candidate to a president seeking to boost his job performance approval ratings among the general populace, including those who did not vote for him.
According to Omero, to be successful in the Oval Office, Trump must boost his job performance approval among supporters and non-supporters alike.
“If he was trying to reach out to Democrats, he wouldn’t be doing the Muslim ban, rolling back climate change efforts, or making up accusations against Obama,” Omero said. “He’d be focused on infrastructure funding, or meeting with CEOs.”
“[Trump] has done very little to extend an olive branch to the people who didn’t vote for him, or to try to heal our country’s partisan divisions.”
Omero said that Trump and his strategists should also be concerned about the finding that Clinton voters were twice as likely as Trump voters to say that they have taken a politically-motivated action since January, such as participating in a demonstration or protest, contacting their congressional representatives, donating to a political cause or boycotting a product or service because the producer or service provider does not share their values.
“People are looking for ways to take action. There may not be a vote until next November, but there’s still plenty to be done between now and then.”
The lack of motivation and enthusiasm among Trump supporters for politically-motivated action was demonstrated recently when Trump called his supporters to stage their own rally and predicted that “it would be the biggest” of all rallies.
Maybe the millions of people who voted to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN should have their own rally. It would be the biggest of them all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017
The Inquisitr reported that the turnout of Trump supporters at the rallies organized in several cities across the county was very low.
Huge Trump rally in downtown Atlanta today. pic.twitter.com/LVtL5kbbH9
— Katherine ?? (@Kittlylane) February 27, 2017
The PSB poll was conducted March 6-9, before Trumpcare — the proposed healthcare plan — and the federal budget were released.
Analysts argued that poll numbers might have plummeted further since the details of Trumpcare and Trump’s proposed federal budget cuts that affect the poor and elderly disproportionately were released.
[Featured Image by Martinez Monsivais/AP Images]
