Flop or success? Trump’s speech draws head-scratching poll results

Turns out, the Congressional Republicans weren’t the only ones who liked President Donald Trump’s address on Tuesday night — but the results were mixed and deceptive.

On the one hand, according to CNN’s instant polling, only 44% of viewers had a “very positive” reaction to Trump’s 100-minute speech — the longest such address by any president. That’s a historically low number.

In comparison, in their initial addresses, every other recent president did better: Joe Biden polled 51% “very positive” in 2021; Barack Obama polled 57% in 2009; and George W. Bush polled 66% “very positive” in 2001. Even Trump polled 57% “very positive” in 2017.

But nevertheless, overall, 69% of those polled by CNN had a “very positive” or “somewhat positive” reaction to the speech, while 31% had a negative reaction.

CNN says its poll sample is 14% more Republican than the population, which would make the poor showing in the “very positive” category telling while explaining the better numbers when you zoom out.

In CBS polling, 76% approved and 23% disapproved. CBS did not reveal the partisan makeup of its respondents.

The network reported that “most viewers who tuned in say Trump’s speech made them feel ‘hopeful’ and ‘proud.’ Most viewers described the president as ‘presidential,’ ‘inspiring,’ and more ‘unifying’ than ‘divisive.’ A majority also called it ‘entertaining.’”

All this, even though Trump’s approval ratings are historically bad — and they’re likely to get worse, according to CNN political analyst Harry Enten.

Enten, appearing before Trump’s national address on Tuesday night, couldn’t find even the slightest good news for Trump in the network’s new polling.

“The word here that I would use to describe Trump is ‘awful,’” Enten told host Kate Bolduan. He later repeated the bad news: “He is historically doing awful, awful, awful ... weak, weak, weak.”

Enten said that at this point in his presidency, Trump is beating only one other president — himself. Trump’s current approval rating of plus-1, while historically horrible, is better than his minus-8 at the start of his first term in 2017.

According to The Associated Press:

Trump’s address on Tuesday night was relentlessly partisan, boasting about his election victory and criticizing Democrats for failing to recognize his accomplishments.

The hard edge reflected Trump’s steamroller approach to his second term, brushing aside opposition and demanding loyalty throughout the federal government.

Trump set a tone of division almost from his first words, calling his predecessor Joe Biden the worst president in history and chiding Democrats as so stinting in their praise of him they would not even grant him perfunctory applause.

He placed himself alongside the country’s first president, George Washington, when discussing what he said were the flood of early achievements of his second term.

He was speaking to a house divided. Republicans stood and cheered. For Democrats, it was silence, with occasional shouts of protest, with the only applause when he announced that Ukraine wanted to restart peace negotiations.

Trump leaned hard into cultural flashpoints — his opposition to affirmative action, diversity programs and transgender rights.

He inflated the scale of his victory in November, the margin of which was actually among the smallest in American history. The tenor was more that of a campaign speech than an address to Congress.

In a stunning breach of protocol and a measure of the fractious politics, one Democrat, Rep. Al Green of Texas, stood up and shouted at Trump, gesturing toward the president with his cane. He refused to sit when asked by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who ordered him removed.

Trump described Democrats as a lost cause. “There is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy,” he said.

The AP contributed to this report.

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