Thursday Edition: Trump's Most Popular Policies

A new analysis takes a look at Donald Trump’s most and least popular proposals. (The Liberal Patriot)

Cultural/social: Nearly 7 in 10 voters support Trump’s proposal to increase police funding and institute tougher penalties for people who attack cops, according to data from Blueprint/The Liberal Patriot.

• 65% back Trump’s plan to enlist local law enforcement and the National Guard to crack down on gang members living in the country illegally.

• Roughly 60% support rounding up, detaining and deporting illegal immigrants.

• Trump’s least popular policy is banning immigration from majority-Muslim countries.

Economics: An overwhelming 81% of Americans back Trump’s promise to protect Social Security and Medicare from funding cuts or eligibility age increases.

• 66% like his plan to increase taxes on the wealthy.

• Voters are divided on Trump’s tariff proposals, with 46% of Americans endorsing 10% universal tariffs and 60% tariffs on Chinese imports.

• His least popular economic policy: Only 40% support reducing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%.

Foreign policy: Trump’s America First stance is his least popular, with only about 40% supporting his proposals to refuse aid to NATO allies and cut off aid to Ukraine.

Bubba’s Two Cents

For the most part, Trump’s most popular policies are kitchen table issues that affect a broad mass of Americans daily (immigration, crime, healthcare costs). It’s not that President Biden hasn’t also talked about similar issues (Axios’ Alex Thompson reported yesterday that Biden recently said he wants to cap rent hikes and push for large-scale medical debt elimination), but there’s a perception among many Americans that these issues aren’t a priority for him. To critics, Biden spends too much time pandering to the progressive wing of his party on relatively niche policies. Case in point, Biden’s massive student loan debt relief campaign, when 62% of Americans don’t have college degrees.

Trust in media has tanked amid complaints about bias, mainly from conservatives. And voters think the press isn’t doing much to fix the problem. (Media Research Center)

A recent Rasmussen Reports poll: 61% of voters say media bias is getting worse.

• Only 9% believe it’s improving.

• 27% think it remains the same.

Zoom in: While there is a political divide on the issue, a healthy share of Democrats (45%) say bias in media is getting worse.

• 71% of Republicans agree.

The trend: Since 2003, the share of Americans who say the media is biased toward one party has steadily increased.

This time period lines up with a dramatic drop in media trust among Republicans and independents.

Exhibit A: Republicans accused the media of downplaying the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in its initial coverage.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.:

Daily Wire reporter Ryan Saavedra:

Bubba’s Two Cents

You could reasonably defend the press’ early coverage of the Trump shooting as an attempt to avoid rushing to judgment before all the details came out. The problem, from the point of view of critics, is that the media hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt with its behavior over the past few decades.

Critics are accusing California Gov. Gavin Newsom of chasing fads instead of issues that matter.

The latest: Newsom signed a law this week making California the first state in the nation to ban school policies that require educators to notify parents about changes to their children’s gender identity.

Independent journalist Zaid Jilani’s reaction:

More: Newsom in 2018 campaigned on single-payer health care, saying, “I’m tired of politicians saying they support single-payer but that it’s too soon, too expensive, or someone else’s problem.”

• But when the chips were down, he failed to endorse A.B. 1400, a single-payer, Medicare-for-All style healthcare bill.

• In an essay for The New Republic in 2022, progressive politician Abdul El-Sayed called it a “betrayal.”

El-Sayed:

Bubba’s Two Cents

I have my bones to pick with universal health care, but at least it’s a topic that affects a broad mass of Americans. Trans rights policies, whatever you may think of them, by definition are niche issues. One of the theories for the rise of populism and the realignment (blue-collar voters shifting toward the GOP) is that the Democratic Party stopped talking about the stuff that mattered to its working-class base.

Conservatives find themselves in the unusual position of being able to flex their political muscle to influence cultural institutions.

The trend: In the past few weeks alone, we’ve seen multiple instances of companies caving to Republican pressure campaigns.

“Morning Joe,” known for its fierce criticism of Donald Trump, was briefly taken off the air in the wake of the assassination attempt on the former president.

Home Depot confirmed it had fired a cashier for celebrating the Trump shooting on social media.

Tractor Supply eliminated its diversity, equity and inclusion and some of its climate initiatives amid boycott threats from conservative activists.

Bubba’s Two Cents

Conservatives have complained for years about companies pushing "woke" policies like DEI and liberals pressuring businesses to fire people for anti-PC opinions. Time will tell if this is more than a temporary change spurred by the attempt on Trump’s life, but for now at least, the shoe is on the other foot.