House Minority Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) may laughably think he has a chance for his party to win back control with the 2026 midterms, but polls continue to go poorly for Democrats, all while they and their allies in the mainstream media bring up President Donald Trump's poll numbers. As it turns out, Trump is doing just fine, as he polls at about even. That's certainly better than Democrats can say, especially when the party experiences record lows.
Earlier this week, Cygnal released their National Voter Trends (NVT) poll of likely 2026 general election voters for April, showing how Democrats still are not in a good spot. Congressional Democrats have a 40-55 percent favorable rating, which is about what it was for February's poll, at 40-54 percent.
The poll's "Insight & Analysis" early on pointed out these findings [emphasis original]:
- Voters still have a less favorable impression of congressional Democrats (40% favorable, 55% unfavorable) than they do of congressional Republicans (44% favorable, 52% unfavorable). Opinions for the congressional Republicans have remained steady as the Democrats worsen– showing their inability to find a message or messenger.
- Congressional Republicans lost favorability among young women but gained support among Hispanics and parents.
- Congressional Democrats have seen a negative 19% net-shift among Independent voters.
Such numbers could especially be problematic for the 2026 midterm elections, if the situation doesn't improve for Democrats, whatever Jeffries' delusional hopes and dreams may involve.
But again, the poll spoke to Trump's numbers as well. He's at about a 47 percent approval rating and a 46.2 percent favorable rating, with that approval rating unchanged from the March poll, as the poll's "Insights & Analysis" actually began by stressing [emphasis original]:
- Almost half (47%) of voters approve of Donald Trump’s job performance, exactly the same number from our March survey – showing Trump’s durability. His job approval did lose ground with college-educated women and those making more than $100k, but this has been counterbalanced by improvements with more Independent voters (+10 approve). 54% of Hispanic men are favorable of the job Trump is doing.
- Donald Trump’s image (46% favorable, 52% unfavorable) has remained steady since March and remains strong since the beginning of this National Voter Trend survey (NVT). 44% of Hispanics and one-in-five black voters (21%) have a favorable impression of him.
This follows a trend, from Cygnal and other pollsters, of how Trump is doing fine, while Democrats are in dire straits and don't appear to be getting any better.
What makes this even better is how Democrats, from Congress to strategists, to those allies in the mainstream media, still try to claim Trump is the one doing poorly. Karen Finney did just that last week during "CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip," and during a completely unrelated segment, which Scott Jennings called her right out for.
pic.twitter.com/8ZRBRiYJu0
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 3, 2025
🔥@ScottJenningsKY shows us all how to deal with a Karen.
JENNINGS: Karen, question: who's more popular right now, Donald Trump or Congressional Democrats?
KAREN FINNEY: Doesn't matter.
JENNINGS: It doesn't? He's sitting at 50/50. You're sitting at…
Another trend in polling is those who think the country is on the "right direction" versus "wrong track," and how those numbers have been at some of the highest we've seen.
A major finding from the Cygnal poll spoke to that as well. Close to 44 percent believe that the United States is heading in the "right direction," which is about what it was in previous months. It's a much higher number than the end of President Joe Biden's term. As the "Insights & Analysis" section also emphasized, speaking to trends, "44% believe the U.S. is heading in the right direction, continuing the trend of the highest level of optimism since late 2022. Hispanic voters are most net positive on the direction of the country and saw a +17 net shift in their positive outlook of Trump’s America."
Other polls have shown similar numbers as well, including an NBC News poll, with Steve Kornacki also speaking to how these are numbers we haven't seen in decades. The last time their poll showed numbers above 40 percent was in 2012, and it was at last 44 percent or higher was in 2004.
A statement from Brent Buchanan, the president of Cygnal, spoke to all the areas going well for Trump, as well as what's going particularly poorly for Democrats.
"Democrats are making a lot of noise right now, but our latest national data shows they continue to be on the wrong side of issues where voters prefer the approach by Trump and Republicans," Buchanan said. "When you have nearly a quarter of Democrats refusing to say people who are here illegally as not having broken any U.S. law, or the 52 percent who support federal judges having power to overturn executive actions and laws, it shouldn’t be any wonder congressional Democrats continue to be 19 percent under water with Independents or why 42 percent of swing voters and 51 percent of parents prefer a Republican candidate in the upcoming midterms," he added, speaking to Democrats' views.
Speaking to those findings, 76.5 percent of respondents say they "believe that individuals who have entered the United States without legal permission have broken the law." Only small majorities of Democrats and those who voted for then Vice President Kamala Harris say so, at 59 percent and 60 percent, respectively. Just 12.4 percent say these illegal criminals have not broken the law, but 23 percent of Democrats and Harris voters said so, the highest amount of any demographic.
Then there's views on judges and the power they have over the executive branch. As the poll asked, "Do you support or oppose allowing federal judges to have the authority to overturn laws and executive actions they disagree with?" A majority of overall respondents, just over 51 percent, say they oppose allowing federal judges to have such authority. Just 35 percent of Democrats and 32 percent of Harris voters say so. That's hardly surprising, given that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) last month cheered on "progressive" judges going after the Trump administration.
"While voters have mixed views on tariffs as a singular concept, Trump’s image is holding steady and support among his base, especially on tariffs, remains strong," Buchanan added, speaking to other key parts of the poll, including a major topic for this week's news.
The poll was released on Tuesday, and the following day, Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs, while also continuing to hammer China. Buchanan provided Townhall with a statement about what the updates says about Trump's support. "Trump's base of support is both durable and resilient. Even amid the tariffs announcement and subsequent pauses today, his base has stuck with him and support remains higher than the peak of his first term," he shared.
Jeffries actually thinks that Democrats could "comfortably" win the midterms, if the elections were held the day he spoke to The Washington Post last week. He cited tariffs as to why Democrats were in a good place, and yet the situation with tariffs changed in just days, forget over 18 months from now.
Buchanan also mentioned the announcement during Thursday morning's daily takes. Citing an article from The Wall Street Journal, "Trump Transforms Tariff War Into High-Stakes Showdown With China," Buchanan focused on "The Art of the Deal."
"Long before Trump was president and I was even interested in politics, I read The Art of the Deal. Knowing how Trump thinks helps makes understanding his actions easier. Yes, Trump wants the US to have more favorable trade terms with allies, but the main goal is to put China in its place," was his take.
Trump and the economy received even better news on Thursday morning, given that inflation was not only down in March, but more so than was expected. This is particularly good news, as the Cygnal poll showed that "Inflation and the economy" is a top concern they want Congress to focus on, with 35 percent of respondents saying so.
The poll was conducted April 1-3 with 1,500 likely general election voters for 2026. There was a margin of error of plus or minus 2.51 percentage points.
