The American heartland – what pundits have repeatedly called Trump country – has turned on the president in a big way, according to a new poll.
In three states – Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota – Trump’s approval ratings are in the cellar.
In Wisconsin and Michigan, two states Trump narrowly carried in 2016, just 36 percent of voters think he’s doing a good job. Similarly, in Minnesota, just 38 percent approve of his job performance.
Without voters in the so-called Rust Belt, Trump’s political fortunes will sink faster than the Titanic.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
The whole party is going down with Trump
Worse for the Republicans is that it’s not just Trump who’s seeing his numbers crumble in the all-important Midwest.
The party itself is sinking, too, likely because they have clung so tightly to Trump over the past year and a half, even as his presidency has been consumed by corruption, criminal investigations and incompetence.
More from NBC News:
What’s more, with November’s midterm elections less than four months away, Democrats enjoy a lead in congressional preference from 8 points to 12 points in these three states.
In Michigan, 45 percent of voters prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress, while 36 percent want a GOP-controlled Congress (D+9).
In Minnesota, it’s 48 percent preferring the Democrats, to 36 percent backing the Republicans (D+12).
And in Wisconsin, Democrats hold a 47 percent-to-39 percent lead in congressional preference (D+8).
Trump’s Russia surrender was a turning point
The NBC News survey was conducted mostly after Donald Trump surrendered to Russian president Vladimir Putin at a July 16 press conference, signaling that it could prove to be a major political turning point.
Trump’s weak performance in Helsinki wasn’t just something blasted by political insiders and beltway pundits. The American people are paying attention, too, and they don’t like what they’re seeing.
Midwestern voters who decided to give Trump a chance and those who stayed home in 2016 appear to be coming together as this president’s worst nightmare.
Neither group plans to make the same mistake again – and they intend to move toward a course correction by sending more Democrats to Washington this November.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
