Dear John,
It seems like with each week, he just keeps getting more and more unpopular—even among those who are most primed to like him. Trump’s approval rating is currently the lowest it’s been this term, seeing a significant decline among Independents and even some decline among Republicans, according to polling from Gallup and The Economist/YouGov. “At 100 days, Trump was once again the most unpopular president since modern polling began, with 61 percent of Americans disapproving of his handling of the economy and 60 percent disapproving of his handling of foreign affairs,” reports contributing editor Carrie Baker in Ms. this week. “According to polling by Fox News, he’s even lost ground with white men without a college degree—his approval rating fell 22 points by April 21 with his primary demographic.”
And the "Big Beautiful Bill" has played no small role: polling by Navigator shows that majorities of voters continue to disapprove of the Republican budget bill. Seventy percent are concerned about cuts to Medicaid (which, by the way, remains overwhelmingly popular in the polls), regardless of when those cuts go into effect—indicating that the Republican strategy of delaying the cuts’ implementation till after the midterm elections might not be working. Meanwhile, the final report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office indicates that over the next decade, the bill stands to increase the federal deficit by $3.4 trillion—and has the potential to cause 10 million people to lose their health insurance.
Navigator’s polling also shows that a majority believe that the bill will overwhelmingly benefit the rich—not everyday Americans. And the more they learn about the bill, the more they are against it, especially among independents, passive news consumers, and even among Republicans, especially non-MAGA Republicans. Baker reports further on how Trump’s cuts and actions specifically impact women—from the Medicaid and SNAP cuts, to the implementation of Project 2025 and rescinding of Biden-era Title IX rules and more—in her piece, which you can read below.
Not even a year into Trump’s second term, the hits are coming fast, and I know it can be hard to remain hopeful. But fortunately, we aren’t operating without a playbook. We’re learning from the past to fuel our fight forward, on our latest podcast from Ms. Studios, Looking Back, Moving Forward—this week, host Carmen Rios traces the feminist fight for bodily autonomy with guests Renee Bracey Sherman, Michele Goodwin, Angie Jean-Marie and Amy Merrill, Susan Frietsche, and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey.
Regardless of how dark things feel, there are countless feminist battles in our past, both near and far, that we can draw hope and strength from.
For equality,
