Republican Frustrations Are Dragging Down the Country’s Mood, New Poll Finds

Americans’ view of the direction of the country dipped in September, driven by Republicans increasingly saying they’re dissatisfied with where things are going, according to new polling from Gallup released Monday. Twenty nine percent of Americans are satisfied with the direction of the country, Gallup found, the lowest percentage since Trump came back to office in January. The percentage of Democrats satisfied stayed near 1% and independents remained at around 23%.  The biggest shift downward in mood came from within President Donald Trump’s own party. The number of Republicans polled who said they were satisfied with the direction of the country dropped from 76% in August to 68% in September. The polling was conducted between September 2 and 16, a period that included the Sept. 10 killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. When asked about the “most important problem facing this country,” Americans mentioned “crime” and “national unity” as issues they were increasingly concerned about. Trump’s approval rating was 40%, around where it has largely leveled off in recent months after dipping from 47% approval during his first month in office in February. During former President Joe Biden’s final year in office, Gallup found that satisfaction rates among Americans were even lower than they are now, hovering at around 20%.