President Donald Trump's weaknesses are being exposed — and one analyst is calling on Democrats to do a better job of highlighting his humiliations.
The former reality TV star understands how much the perception of strength binds his supporters to him, but The New Republic's Greg Sargent drew attention to new internal polling data from Senate Democrats that shows the 79-year-old president is "a politically weak, failing, diminished, naked-emperor figure."
"The polling — conducted for the Senate Majority PAC and provided to The New Republic — probes voter attitudes toward Trump, his tariffs, and the economy," Sargent wrote. "It finds that 56 percent of likely 2026 midterm voters nationally say Trump’s tariffs are hurting the economy overall, with 44 percent saying they’re hurting a lot. Only 32 percent say they’re helping. Among swing voters — defined as voters who switched in either direction from 2020 to 2024 — 57 percent say they’re hurting."
"What’s more, the poll finds that 48 percent of overall likely 2026 voters say Trump’s tariffs are hurting their own economic situation," he added, "versus only 29 percent who say they’re not having any effect and an abysmal 8 percent who say the tariffs are helping their economic prospects."
A majority of likely voters see Trump as more "reckless" than "strong," especially on tariffs, and last week's weaker-than-expected jobs report shows that his policies are hurting more than they're helping.
"What’s notable about this Democratic polling, however, is that it suggests many voters expressly do not see the tariffs as an act of strength, as an act of protecting. Instead, they view him as being 'reckless' — he’s floundering around wildly, aimlessly, and destructively," Sargent wrote.
The president constantly frames his opponents as weak and feeble, as he villainously declares that resistance is futile, but Sargent found that "reality is shattering the illusion" in his dealings with Vladimir Putin, his monarchial edicts on mail-in voting, and his increasingly unpopular trade war.
"Trump is of course consolidating autocratic power in many unnerving ways," Sargent wrote. "Calling Trump 'failing' might seem to undercut warnings about the autocratic threat he poses."
"But it doesn’t," the columnist added. "Even as Trump’s illegal actions mount, in many instances he’s flailing and thrashing around with ludicrous ineptitude."
Trump boldly – and falsely – claims ludicrously high approval ratings, but in reality, polling shows he's underwater on every issue that voters care about.
"There is a way to reconcile this authoritarianism-versus-failure paradox," Sargent wrote. "Democrats can denounce Trump’s abuses for the Rubicon-crossing threat they pose — while also asserting that his multiplying failures are exactly why those abuses are growing more menacing and unconstrained.
"In short, Trump is a floundering figure of buffoonish incompetence who is simultaneously consolidating authoritarian power, which is precisely what makes this situation so combustible and dangerous. And Democrats can say exactly that."
