Poll after poll shows bad news for the Democratic Party, though the increasing evidence we've seen of top Democrats in disarray – from the past and the future – certainly doesn't help their chance of improving in the minds of the American people, and in time for the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential election. It's not just one poll we've seen since President Donald Trump won a second term last November, with Republicans also keeping control of the House and gaining control back of the Senate. It's increasingly looking like a pattern, and one Democrats don't seem able to fix, if they're even capable.
Last Thursday, Gallup released a poll showing that just 25 percent of Americans have confidence in Democratic leaders in Congress. How did Gallup lead with the poll, though? By focusing on Trump's ratings, even though he and the Republican Party in general are doing far better than congressional Democrats. That's referenced, sort of, in the write-up's subheadline in how "Americans' 44% confidence in Trump to manage economy similar to his first term, but better than other U.S. leaders." The New York Post on Friday highlighted the Democrats' low confidence ratings.
Further, Republicans are far more unified in supporting their fellow Republicans than Democrats are. It is not until several subsections and several charts later that the poll write-up discusses as much, under the subheader of "Republicans Broadly Confident in GOP Leaders; Democrats Less So in Theirs":
As has been the case in recent years, Americans’ views of whom they trust to do the right thing on the economy reflect deep partisan divisions, with little crossover support for leaders of the opposing party.
Trump commands the highest level of in-party support, with 89% of Republicans saying they have a great deal (67%) or fair amount (22%) of confidence in him on the economy, compared with 37% of independents and 8% of Democrats. Other Republican leaders — including congressional leaders in general and Johnson and Thune, specifically — also earn majority-level confidence from Republicans but far less from independents (25% to 29%) and Democrats (7% to 16%).
Conversely, Democrats express less confidence than Republicans in their own party’s congressional leadership (39%), Jeffries (50%) and Schumer (48%). Independents have more confidence in Jeffries than the others on the Democratic side — but even that is muted, at 29%. No more than 18% of Republicans have confidence in any of the Democratic leaders.
While 30 percent of overall Americans have a "great deal" of confidence in Trump's ability to handle the economy, just 6 percent say they do when it comes to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) ability. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Democratic leaders in Congress don't fare much better, with 9 percent and 7 percent saying so, respectively.
When it comes to the issue on "Partisans' Confidence in U.S. Leaders on the Economy," with a chart included in the write-up, the numbers for Democratic congressional leaders, and among fellow Democrats, are brutal. Jeffries enjoys the most support from his fellow Democrats, but even still, just 50 percent say they have a "great deal" or a "fair amount" of confidence in him. Forty-eight percent say so about Schumer, and Democratic leaders in Congress did even worse, with 39 percent saying they have a "great deal" or "fair amount" of confidence in the party's leaders.
Democrats, like Jeffries, have loved to go after Trump on the economy, even from the moment he was sworn into office for his second term, conveniently forgetting the economic mess that former President Joe Biden left behind. Yet Democratic voters don't even have faith in them. Democrats are also all too happy to share polling on how Trump has room to grow when it comes to his approval ratings on the economy and inflation. It's worth reminding, however, that Biden finished his term with a net -20.7 on the economy and a net -29.0 on inflation, according to RealClearPolling.
Perhaps Democrats should worry about cleaning up their own image, and with their own voters, just over 18 months away from the next midterm elections.
In strong contrast, 89 percent of Trump's fellow Republicans say they have a "great deal" or a "fair amount" of confidence in the president. Majorities of Republicans also stand by Republicans leaders in Congress, with 76 percent saying so with that "great deal/fair amount" level of confidence; Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), with 72 percent saying so; and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), with 64 percent saying so.
It's not until the very end of Gallup's write-up, just before the "Bottom Line," that 25 percent figure is even mentioned, under the subheader of "Democratic Congressional Leaders’ Rating at Record Low." One would think that this might be a major takeaway, but evidently not.
As that section mentions in part, further highlighting how Republicans stand by congressional Republicans [emphasis added]:
Democratic leadership’s latest 25% confidence rating is an all-time low for the group — well below the previous 34% low recorded in 2023 and the average of 45% since 2001. In contrast, Republican leadership’s latest 39% rating is well above the 24% low for that group in 2014 after a federal government shutdown, but not far from the historical average of 43%.
...
Democratic congressional leaders’ rating among their own party faithful has fallen 41 points since last year to their lowest point ever. The previous low for Democratic congressional leaders among Democrats was 60%, recorded in 2005. For their part, Republicans’ confidence in their own party’s congressional leaders has never fallen below 42%.
That 25 percent confidence level is not just bad on its own, though it certainly is. This represents yet another record low for the party from a poll, and one that's 9 percentage points than the 2023 record low for the party, when it was 34 percent.
Although the "Bottom Line" is still focused on Trump, there's still a mention of how "Republicans’ confidence in their party’s economic leadership is strong, while Democrats’ confidence in their own party’s leadership is historically low."
The sense of Democrats in disarray doesn't merely come from those Americans self-identifying as fellow Democrats, though this poll, conducted April 1-14, shows it certainly does. It's coming from within, especially with DNC Vice Chairman David Hogg, with his initiative to primary certain incumbents. He's also been at odds with Democratic strategist James Carville over the move. Jeffries, meanwhile, is sticking by his fellow House Democrats, as he made abundantly clear during his Sunday show appearance on ABC News' "This Week."
When asked about DNC vice chair David Hogg pushing to unseat some incumbents, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries says, “I look forward to standing behind every single Democratic incumbent, from the most progressive, to the most centrist, and all points in between.” https://t.co/QVCltLFudC pic.twitter.com/Vr4s5xkLTm
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 20, 2025