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Donald Trump Approval Rating Upticks After SOTU, But Trey Gowdy And Many Other GOP Still Jumping Ship

By Christine Beswick
Published on: 05:12 PST, Feb 4, 2018

Donald Trump’s approval rating has seen a slight uptick in at least one scientifically transparent poll since his first State of the Union address this week. CNN reports that a poll out of Monmouth University reveals a new approval rating for Trump at 42 percent this week.

Republicans may appear to be feeling comfortable with a rise in approval ratings of their president. But as the Republicans still hold a majority in the upper and lower chambers of Congress, a number of GOP committee chairs are announcing their retirement. Axios reports this “power racing” for the exits by the GOP as a crisis, and “no surer sign of GOP fear.”

Gallup Daily Trump job approval polls still sit at 38 percent approval for Donald Trump and 58 percent disapproval. Vox reports that while the president may be seeing an uptick in some approval ratings when it comes to the national picture, the president’s approval is below 50 percent in 38 states.

Meanwhile, many career GOP members of Congress are leaving, retiring, or announcing they will not seek re-election. Republican Trey Gowdy appeared on Face the Nation today to discuss his reasons for leaving a coveted committee chair position. He said that after seven years it became clear that politics was about “winning” and he says that’s not what he signed up for.

Trey Gowdy says that he is leaving his post on the House Oversight Committee to go back to what he feels he does best, working in criminal justice. He said on Face the Nation today that in justice, “the process matters,” whereas in politics, “it’s all about winning.”

Republican Trey Gowdy for South Carolina also called himself a “lousy politician” today, saying, the ends of “winning” justifying the means of “winning at all costs” in politics is not what he signed up for.

Still, a committee chair in American politics is the holy grail of coveted positions. It’s the next best thing to the next highest thing, a senate seat or a track to the presidency. In American Congress, it is the highest thing, with the gavel of a committee chair wielding a lot of power. Not every voter believes that Trey Gowdy has seen the light of integrity.

With the tax plan and a seemingly successful State of the Union behind them, Republicans could use this strength and momentum of upticks in approval ratings going into Elections 2018. Donald Trump’s approval rating is seeing an uptick, but he’s losing support in Congress with a mass Republican exodus of some fairly strong players.

It’s risky for the optics heading into Elections 2018, with some saying, “Republicans are cooked.”

But Donald Trump is only seeing an uptick in national polls. In the state-by-state polls, Vox reports that Donald Trump is seeing lower numbers in 38 states. Vox reports that the president is the least popular president on record and that he is unpopular in “most places” but is not unpopular in all places.

In West Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, and Tennessee, Donald Trump has approval ratings over 50 percent. But Trump is seeing some “remorseful Trump voters” in key states of Ohio, Kansas, and Indiana, where he once got 56 percent of the vote. Today, his numbers are below 50 percent in all three states.

Vox reports that this indicates that “most” voters of Trump in these states are still supporting him, but that it is evident that many have changed their minds. Indeed on Twitter, many Trump voters are tweeting their concerns to him directly, on many different things including the tax plan.

One voter recently told him they hope he is replaced, while another tweeted how the new tax plan hurt their family.

Axios reports that the consistent pushback against Donald Trump is going to be good for Democrats come the midterms this year. Axios reports that eight House Republicans are leaving their coveted positions and that this is perhaps the “biggest tell” that Democrats are in for a good wave of wins come midterms 2018.

Axios refers to the mass exodus as “no surer example of how even the most powerful jobs feel like a drag” in today’s era of politics and “dysfunctional governance.”

The committee chairs that are leaving include Republican Rodney Frelinghuysen of the Appropriations Committee who took his position in January 2017. Republican Bob Goodlatte of the House Judiciary Committee has reached his term-limit and will be retiring. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina of the Oversight Committee is leaving his position he assumed in June 2017 when Jason Chaffetz retired.

Republican Gregg Harper of Mississippi is leaving the Administration Committee, a position he assumed when Donald Trump took office. Republican Jeb Hensarling of Texas is leaving the Financial Services Committee due to term limits. Republican Ed Royce of California is leaving the Foreign Affairs Committee due to term limits, and Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania is leaving the Transportation Committee due to term limits.

Also leaving due to term-limits is Lamar Smith of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee due to term-limits. Republican Diane Black has also left her chair of the Budget Committee, a position she assumed when Donald Trump took office. She is reportedly going to focus on a gubernatorial run for Tennessee this fall.

While Donald Trump’s approval ratings may be seeing an uptick in some polls after his first State of the Union address, he is still dealing with backlash from his own voters, and his own party, many of whom are moving on in a “race for the exit” while they can.

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