Early NBC News midterm exit polls showed that 43% of voters said they cast ballots to express opposition to President Donald Trump, and nearly half saw the midterm election as a rebuke of his performance. The polling, taken on Election Day, also found Trump’s job approval rating among voters at 38%.
That number gives the clearest measure of how voters were judging him as ballots were being cast. It was lower than his 45% approval in the 2018 midterm election, and it marked the weakest standing among sitting presidents on Election Day in nearly two decades.
Trump and the economy
Voters also tied their choices to the economy. Seventy-five percent said the nation’s economy is in rough shape, and 65% said Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions in the U.S. About half said the cost of living was crucial to their votes.
The poll put the economy at the top of the list of issues facing the country, with 39% naming it first. The state of democracy followed at 32%, while voters were split on policies related to AI and taxes. The Republican Party held an advantage on immigration.
Georgia, Ohio, Michigan and Texas
Disapproval of Trump was not limited to one region. Majorities of Senate voters in Georgia, Ohio, Michigan and Texas said they disapprove of his handling of his job, adding state-level weight to the broader national numbers.
Those same voters gave the Democratic Party favorable views from 46% and unfavorable views from 54%, while the Republican Party drew 41% favorable views and 59% unfavorable views. Voters were likelier to say the Democratic Party could better handle the economy, foreign policy, healthcare and policies about transgender people.
Election Day polling
The poll drew from voters leaving polling locations across the U.S. on Election Day and from interviews by phone, mail and online with people who voted early or by mail. Trump campaigned heavily for Republican candidates in recent weeks, but the early poll showed little lift in his job approval rating.
What the numbers leave open is how that opposition translated into actual midterm election results for Republican and Democratic candidates.
