These Data Points Suggest the Trump Resistance Is Futile
Bubba
27 Nov
America has officially reached the acceptance stage on Donald Trump. (Pew Research Center)
CNN
The numbers: The share of Americans with “warm” feelings toward Trump are roughly 10 percentage points higher now (43%) than they were in the wake of the 2020 (34%) or 2016 (36%) elections, according to a post-election survey from Pew Research Center.
Per CNN analyst Harry Enten, Trump’s approval rating is 17 points higher than it was in Nov. 2016, bringing him in line with other presidents.
CBS News polling found 46% of Americans were “excited/optimistic” about Trump’s upcoming term in December of 2016, while 53% said they were “scared/concerned.”
Fast forward to this month and those numbers have flipped: 53% are “excited/optimistic” about Trump’s second term, while just 46% say they’re “scared/concerned.”
Former President Bill Clinton begrudgingly handing it to Trump:
I can’t say that I was surprised. … At least this time, there is no question that he actually won both the popular vote and the Electoral College.
The trend: Trump's 2024 election win was fueled by major rightward shifts within virtually every core Democratic voting bloc.
Bubba’s Two Cents
Democrats, media outlets, and Trump’s opponents have built their resistance strategy around portraying him as an unprecedented danger to the nation. They’ve labeled him a fascist and dictator, accused him of threatening U.S. democracy, and relentlessly tried to tie him to Project 2025. Yet, this approach seems to have backfired, with Trump now more mainstream than ever. It’s possible it says more about the people saying it than it does about Trump himself.