President Donald Trump is struggling in states that matter most to his re-election chances, according to a new tracking poll by the Morning Consult.
The president has sustained double-digit declines in net approval rate in nearly every state that could be considered a tossup, and more voters disapprove than approve of him in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Ohio that Trump won in 2016. Some of the biggest swings are in the southwestern U.S., where the president’s focus on hardening immigration policy may be hurting him. According to the poll, Trump saw a 30-point swing toward disapproval in New Mexico and a 26-point negative swing in Arizona.
Voters have also soured on the president in states with key Senate races for Republicans, like Susan Collins’ re-election bid in Maine (where Trump has seen a 21-point swing in the wrong direction) and Cory Gardner’s defense of his seat in Colorado (where Trump is now 12 percentage points under water).
The White House and Trump’s campaign have insisted they’re not worried about recent polls, and say their data shows the president still prevailing against an eventual Democratic nominee. And presidents almost always see a decline in popularity after their inauguration.
'I think I’m winning based on polls that we see,' Trump told reporters Monday at the G-7 summit in France.