Republicans still feel pessimistic about U.S. future despite winning White House: report

Although Republicans have won both houses of Congress and the White House, the latest Gallup data shows that they still feel pessimistic about the future of the United States.

Axios wrote about the end-of-year data showing that just 19% of Americans are optimistic about the future of the U.S., and the most optimistic are Democrats.

It isn't new, as the last time the U.S. felt optimistic about the future was two decades ago.

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"The last time even 30% of Americans felt the U.S. was heading in the right direction was the summer of 2021," said Axios.

The numbers have fallen considerably (17%) since October, largely due to Democrats' response to Donald Trump's November election. This is a drop from an already low number.

Despite conservative control over all three branches of government, just 9% of Republicans feel the country is on the right track. That said, this number increased by 4% after the election.

"Gallup's highest-ever finding (71%) came in Feb. 1999," during President Bill Clinton's administration. The "lowest (7%) came in Oct. 2008, during the financial crisis," during President George W. Bush's administration.

Democrats cite Donald Trump as their top fear about the future, whereas Republicans are worried about inflation and immigration.

The report noted that consumer confidence rose in November after Trump's victory, but after a few weeks, it fell again. In Jan. 2024, consumer confidence dramatically increased, hitting similar numbers as when President Joe Biden was inaugurated.

Read the full report here.