As we've discussed elsewhere, Donald Trump's polling honeymoon is real. He didn't get one last time, with the resistance in full throat, but he's experiencing one now. We'll see how long it lasts, but its existence is undeniable. In addition to broadly high marks for his presidential transition and fairly healthy support for his slate of cabinet nominees, Trump is also enjoying record-high personal favorability. Last week, the RealClearPolitics average on the president-elect's favorability/unfavorability ratings experienced an unprecedented lines-crossing event. Dating back all the way to the 2016 presidential cycle, the better part of a decade ago, Trump had never been anything but underwater on this metric. But approximately one month before he is set to once again assume office, that is no longer the case.
This graph speaks for itself:
🚨 JUST IN: For the first time in his entire political career, Donald J. Trump has a net-positive favorability rating in the RealClearPolitics average.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 13, 2024
🔴 Favorable: 49.4% (+2)
🔵 Unfavorable: 47.4% pic.twitter.com/wLTO32PVMG
RealClearPolitics polling average: Trump now has a net-positive favorability rating for the first time since he entered politics.
— John Fund (@johnfund) December 17, 2024
Americans have finally flipped on Trump for the first time since he first toyed with entering politics back in 1999: 49.4 percent now have a…
Over the past several years, Trump has slowly worked his way up from a 35 percent favorability for much of his first presidential campaign to 40 percent during his first term. Even this campaign was different, with Trump enjoying 45 percent approval ratings. Many events over the past several months have seemingly turned the tide in the former and future president’s favor, including the two failed assassination attempts against him and the several criminal cases he faced, which he dismissed as politically motivated. One need to look no further than the results on Election Day to see that public perception of Trump had changed. He won the popular vote for the first time, with 49.9 percent to Vice President Kamala Harris’s 48.4 percent. Trump also carried 312 electoral college votes to Harris’s 226.
Public perceptions have indeed changed. Emerson's latest data set will boost that thin advantage even further:
Emerson favorability poll
— Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) December 17, 2024
Trump
Favorable 51%
Unfavorable 45%
Vance
Favorable 40.8%
Unfavorable 40.6%
12/11-12/13 | 1,000 RVhttps://t.co/yqxcKY1ejZ
Another pollster offers this interesting nugget:
Favorability among 18-34 year olds
— Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) December 13, 2024
Trump 51-46 (+5)
Republican Party 48-43 (+5)
...
Democratic Party 37-54 (-17)@EchelonInsights pic.twitter.com/z0QiZGTtwS
Trump already seems to be serving as our acting president, as the actual current president is lying low, mumbling a few words here or there, and issuing appalling pardons. The president-elect's press conference on Monday further underscored that overall sense. Trump has amassed some real political capital, both at home and abroad. We'll see how he chooses to spend it, and how much longevity it has. I'll leave you with this:
A failed, unfit president shuffles and wheezes toward the exits, issuing appalling pardons as he goes: https://t.co/Uh636SesaY
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) December 18, 2024
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