As Democrats recover from a hammering Mueller Lite hangover -- most assuredly the second worst week in their recent political history -- April begins with excruciating pain worthy of Excedrin abuse: Trump’s popularity is on the rise. Rasmussen Reports, the statisticians who dredge up numbers daily on current issues, show the president enjoying a 51% approval rating among likely U.S. voters.
And, no, not just Republicans. They also surveyed Democrats, old folks, young whippersnappers, a veritable cornucopia of people of color, and Independents.
Granted, Democrats are angry and remain solidly at 49% disapproval, but only 38% strongly disapprove.
The Casualties of War
Trump must be having a grand old time watching the Twittersphere explode in questioning the ethics, skill, talent, and intentions of Robert Mueller and his cast of mostly former Clinton legal eagles. What had been dubbed by Trump and repeated by his base as a “witch hunt” appears to be ringing with credibility for most Americans.
Rachel Maddow
He must surely be getting a tickle from the ancillary casualties of war – the drive-by news media. Ratings for cable news CNN and MSNBC and national networks death-spiraled upon the news of no collusion with Russia.
The Rachel Maddow Show saw an average 13% decrease in viewership -- a whopping 500,000 loss -- after U.S. Attorney General William Barr sent his summary letter to Congress. The big Mueller surprise for the handsome pundit was losing 15% of her 25-52 demographic audience. Lesson to learn: Don’t put all your ratings eggs in one Russia conspiracy basket.
The biggest winner of all was the deplorables-watched Fox News. Throughout the prime-time lineup post Barr’s letter to the Hill, Fox News reached 3.3 million viewers, while CNN and MSNBC combined for 2.6 million. Yes, combined; their numbers fell embarrassingly short.
As Rasmussen Reports, the reason is clear:
“President Trump’s exoneration by the Mueller report has highlighted the highly inaccurate reporting of many major media outlets … partisan affiliation overrides the facts when it comes to how voters grade the media’s performance.”
That scolding equates to only 33% of American voters who think media coverage of Russiagate was accurate and just.
The Democrats now must decide on whether to continue to investigate Trump. But that strategy comes with a dire warning label: proceed at incalculable risk.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis Nadler (D-NY) has declared the House won’t stop until something, anything, is found to pin on Trump:
“Well, there have been obstructions of justice, whether they are – clearly, whether they are criminal obstruction is another question. What Congress has to do is look at a broader picture. We are in charge – we have the responsibility of protecting the rule of law, of looking at obstructions of justice, abuses of power, at corruption, in order to protect the rule of law so that our democratic institutions are not greatly damaged by this president.”
He may do well to just accept the report and move on. This week, Rasmussen Reports shows voters have had enough and prefer the Democrats in Congress to get back to national issues – 61% are seemingly collusion-fatigued.
Setting Anger Aside
As Trump’s numbers continue to rise in the positive column, it would seem a no-brainer that Democrats would adjust the scenes in the script to avoid angering and frustrating a major slice of the electorate. And they have a plethora of issues on which to focus: further dividing race relations, sabotaging a booming economy, flooding the nation with illegal immigrants, and keeping Trump off the ballot.
But if we have learned anything from the Democrats of late is that they are as stubborn as the symbol emblazoned on their coffee mugs and T-shirts and appear to be willing to die trying without conceding an inch to save themselves. Prepare for a continuation of a senseless, baseless barrage of subpoenas and further investigations of a sitting president and the biased coverage elicited by a complacent leftist media.
