Elliott, this confuses me. 37% of Americans approve of the job Donald Trump is doing as president. 27% approve of most or all of his policies. Fox News has the biggest audience share of all news outlets, 62-65% of cable news share in Q2 2025, January share In primetime, Fox News averaged 2.05 million viewers. https://deadline.com/2026/01/cable-news-ratings-january-2026-1236700559/
So: either the majority of the news consuming public watch Fox and do not believe what they see and hear on Fox News, or the polls are not reaching Fox News viewers. Both can not be simultaneously factual.
Strength in Number: Pres. Trump’s Immigration Policies and Implementation
Takeaways:
•A new poll from the Pew Research Center out this week finds that 37% of Americans approve of the job Donald Trump is doing as president.
•However, only 27% say they support “most” or “all” of his policies.
•Since Morris’s Feb. 2025 article, according to Pew, the percentage of adults who support most or all of Trump’s policies has fallen eight points, including a nine-point drop among Republicans.
•Now, just a bare majority of Trump’s own party says they support all or most of his plans and policies.
•Pew is not the only pollster to find a difference between support for Trump in general and support for his policies.
•Earlier this month, CBS News found that 50% of adults say they approve of what Trump is “trying to accomplish” on immigration, while only 37% approve of “how he’s going about it” (a 13-point gap).
•YouGov this week found the same pattern: 51% say they support Trump’s goals on immigration policy, but only 27% support both the goals and his implementation (a 24-point gap).
•On Immigration and Customs Enforcement in general, a new Fox News survey this week found 59% of voters now say immigration enforcement has been “too aggressive,” similar to YouGov’s 60%. But Americans haven’t turned against the idea of immigration enforcement.
•YouGov found 87% still support deporting immigrants who committed violent crimes. •The problem is everything else:
>>only 22% support deporting long-term residents with no criminal record,
>>only 21% for parents of U.S. citizen children,
>>only 17% for people who came as children.
Personal Observations:
1] I became associated with Strength in Numbers by virtue of a happy mistake and have found the data concise and well organized.
2] As I read this report, I surmise that the American public is still supportive of deporting undocumented immigrants who have criminal records. They just don’t like the way it’s being done.
3] I would venture a guess that the thuggish manner of implementation is the cause of this response.
4] I can only hope this erosion of support will be reflected in next November’s Midterm Election.
We Americans seem to be fascinated by Mafia boss characters. We love, deplore and fear them all at the same time. Take Vito Corleone played by Marlon Brando and Tony Soprano played by Jame Gandolfini as examples. Charming but tyrannical characters, baked into the mythology of American male dominance. It's entertaining in movies or TV shows. Not so much in real life.
Now we have a media obsessed POTUS acting like the Mafia boss of the world. Blowing up small boats, kidnapping leaders of sovereign states, terrorizing liberal cities with a secret militias, threatening to seize control of other sovereign nations, enlisting the support of the fascist advisors. Denying truth and civil rights. Demanding absolute loyalty It's hard for me to catch my breath writing this list!
In the case of the first two actors, it's easy to willingly suspend our disbelief and enjoy their performance because we know they're just acting.
In the case of POTUS, we can't pretend he's okay in real life. He is a terrifying Mafia boss having the dominating time if his life while he pushes his secret police to beat, harass and murder Americans who resist his inhumanity.
But now he's failing. Failing because Americans actually love their freedoms, love their self governance and will not comply with a national shake down by a delusional monster.
How do we restore America to its traditions of respect, diversity and civil rights? Take down the Trump mob one wise guy at a time. Start with Heir Miller, then the Botox Queen Ms Noem and TV war monger, Hegseth. By working our way up to Trump, we'll defang and dethrone our monster in chief.
If I have this right: voters voted for djt because they I-n-t-e-r-p-r-e-t-e-d , inaccurately, his campaign rhetoric in ways they liked/approved. Pure grifting. Before we even get to misogyny, cruelty, national debt explosion, and on.
An interesting take. However, in order to vote for Trump in 2016, Trump voters either had to willfully ignore porn star hush money, blatant racism, and a history of failed casinos and unpaid contractors, or just be blind to the news. To vote for Trump in 2024, Trump voters had to EMBRACE the racism and jury findings of sexual assault and insurrection and conviction for fraud. There is no way they "weren't aware" of followers defecating on the floor of the Capitol Building. They voted for white male privilege over the Black lady. They chose this. It's not an accident that BEFORE he was elected, I wrote "Don't You Dare Call It Trumpism," predicting excuse-making for Trump voters months before he was elected. You can't separate the vibe from the policies because Trumpism has been the policy of the Republican base since 1964, at least. https://crooksandliars.com/2016/07/dont-you-dare-call-it-trump-ism
It’s worth it to go back and read Elliott’s excellent analysis of the US electorate posted last autumn. I thought the single most striking and insightful piece of data in it was that 38% of our population (a plurality by the way) is largely apolitical, not focusing on this stuff that the rest of us tend to live and breathe. They’re too busy trying to just get by to have a lot a bandwidth for public policy questions. It feels like “blaming the victim” to attack folks who are struggling with just having a decent life for not having the sophistication to recognize the difference between political slogans and actual implemented policies.
It’s fine if people want to live their lives, but their indifference to politics literally costs innocent lives both in the US and abroad. Not to mention reducing the overall quality of life for the majority of the US population
If they choose to vote, perhaps they should familiarize themselves with the issues first. Given what the rest of us have to deal with now due to the ignorance of 77M people, I’m coming around to the idea of a basic civics test should be given to the voting population every 4 years on a pass/fail basis before people can vote.
For many years, a fair part of my professional life involved public policy—either directly or indirectly. I always found it interesting to watch to how our institutions worked in the real world and have continued to follow these issues closely. However, I recognize that the “sausage making” of government isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. For better or worse, political slogans are easy to digest and if your time is limited, they may be all you can absorb. To delve into how policy actually gets implemented takes a lot more effort and discipline.
At a personal level, I certainly sympathize with your views. I was as astounded and dismayed as anyone in November of 2024 for all the reasons we could both probably list here ad nauseam. However, I also understand the plight of folks whose understanding of “government” is limited to whatever they absorbed in a high school civics course—I’ve even got members of my own extended family who fit that description.
If you want to persuade people, you really do have to meet them where they are. That probably includes facing the fact the Republicans have been much better at messaging than Democrats have and taking a few pages from their playbook.
"There's a sucker born every minute" is a quotation often associated with American showman P. T. Barnum (1810-1891), although there is no evidence that he actually said it. Early instances of its use are found among salesmen, gamblers and confidence tricksters.
Elliott, this confuses me. 37% of Americans approve of the job Donald Trump is doing as president. 27% approve of most or all of his policies. Fox News has the biggest audience share of all news outlets, 62-65% of cable news share in Q2 2025, January share In primetime, Fox News averaged 2.05 million viewers. https://deadline.com/2026/01/cable-news-ratings-january-2026-1236700559/
So: either the majority of the news consuming public watch Fox and do not believe what they see and hear on Fox News, or the polls are not reaching Fox News viewers. Both can not be simultaneously factual.
Which is it, do you think?
This naturally raises questions about the viability of a post-Trump Trumpism, at least for presidential candidates.
Today I posted this:
Strength in Number: Pres. Trump’s Immigration Policies and Implementation
Takeaways:
•A new poll from the Pew Research Center out this week finds that 37% of Americans approve of the job Donald Trump is doing as president.
•However, only 27% say they support “most” or “all” of his policies.
•Since Morris’s Feb. 2025 article, according to Pew, the percentage of adults who support most or all of Trump’s policies has fallen eight points, including a nine-point drop among Republicans.
•Now, just a bare majority of Trump’s own party says they support all or most of his plans and policies.
•Pew is not the only pollster to find a difference between support for Trump in general and support for his policies.
•Earlier this month, CBS News found that 50% of adults say they approve of what Trump is “trying to accomplish” on immigration, while only 37% approve of “how he’s going about it” (a 13-point gap).
•YouGov this week found the same pattern: 51% say they support Trump’s goals on immigration policy, but only 27% support both the goals and his implementation (a 24-point gap).
•On Immigration and Customs Enforcement in general, a new Fox News survey this week found 59% of voters now say immigration enforcement has been “too aggressive,” similar to YouGov’s 60%. But Americans haven’t turned against the idea of immigration enforcement.
•YouGov found 87% still support deporting immigrants who committed violent crimes. •The problem is everything else:
>>only 22% support deporting long-term residents with no criminal record,
>>only 21% for parents of U.S. citizen children,
>>only 17% for people who came as children.
Personal Observations:
1] I became associated with Strength in Numbers by virtue of a happy mistake and have found the data concise and well organized.
2] As I read this report, I surmise that the American public is still supportive of deporting undocumented immigrants who have criminal records. They just don’t like the way it’s being done.
3] I would venture a guess that the thuggish manner of implementation is the cause of this response.
4] I can only hope this erosion of support will be reflected in next November’s Midterm Election.
Source:
https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/americans-voted-trump-not-trumpism?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=5oudt&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
We Americans seem to be fascinated by Mafia boss characters. We love, deplore and fear them all at the same time. Take Vito Corleone played by Marlon Brando and Tony Soprano played by Jame Gandolfini as examples. Charming but tyrannical characters, baked into the mythology of American male dominance. It's entertaining in movies or TV shows. Not so much in real life.
Now we have a media obsessed POTUS acting like the Mafia boss of the world. Blowing up small boats, kidnapping leaders of sovereign states, terrorizing liberal cities with a secret militias, threatening to seize control of other sovereign nations, enlisting the support of the fascist advisors. Denying truth and civil rights. Demanding absolute loyalty It's hard for me to catch my breath writing this list!
In the case of the first two actors, it's easy to willingly suspend our disbelief and enjoy their performance because we know they're just acting.
In the case of POTUS, we can't pretend he's okay in real life. He is a terrifying Mafia boss having the dominating time if his life while he pushes his secret police to beat, harass and murder Americans who resist his inhumanity.
But now he's failing. Failing because Americans actually love their freedoms, love their self governance and will not comply with a national shake down by a delusional monster.
How do we restore America to its traditions of respect, diversity and civil rights? Take down the Trump mob one wise guy at a time. Start with Heir Miller, then the Botox Queen Ms Noem and TV war monger, Hegseth. By working our way up to Trump, we'll defang and dethrone our monster in chief.
Excellent, concise explanation of the Trump phenomena. Thank you, Elliot!
If I have this right: voters voted for djt because they I-n-t-e-r-p-r-e-t-e-d , inaccurately, his campaign rhetoric in ways they liked/approved. Pure grifting. Before we even get to misogyny, cruelty, national debt explosion, and on.
Well said, Mr. Morris! Your best newsletter yet.
Hopefully, once the sharp pain of reality sets in with a vengeance, Trump voters will reform their voting strategy and choose policy over symbols.
An interesting take. However, in order to vote for Trump in 2016, Trump voters either had to willfully ignore porn star hush money, blatant racism, and a history of failed casinos and unpaid contractors, or just be blind to the news. To vote for Trump in 2024, Trump voters had to EMBRACE the racism and jury findings of sexual assault and insurrection and conviction for fraud. There is no way they "weren't aware" of followers defecating on the floor of the Capitol Building. They voted for white male privilege over the Black lady. They chose this. It's not an accident that BEFORE he was elected, I wrote "Don't You Dare Call It Trumpism," predicting excuse-making for Trump voters months before he was elected. You can't separate the vibe from the policies because Trumpism has been the policy of the Republican base since 1964, at least. https://crooksandliars.com/2016/07/dont-you-dare-call-it-trump-ism
“Americans voted for Trump, but don’t support his agenda.”
Peak stupidity
It’s worth it to go back and read Elliott’s excellent analysis of the US electorate posted last autumn. I thought the single most striking and insightful piece of data in it was that 38% of our population (a plurality by the way) is largely apolitical, not focusing on this stuff that the rest of us tend to live and breathe. They’re too busy trying to just get by to have a lot a bandwidth for public policy questions. It feels like “blaming the victim” to attack folks who are struggling with just having a decent life for not having the sophistication to recognize the difference between political slogans and actual implemented policies.
It’s fine if people want to live their lives, but their indifference to politics literally costs innocent lives both in the US and abroad. Not to mention reducing the overall quality of life for the majority of the US population
If they choose to vote, perhaps they should familiarize themselves with the issues first. Given what the rest of us have to deal with now due to the ignorance of 77M people, I’m coming around to the idea of a basic civics test should be given to the voting population every 4 years on a pass/fail basis before people can vote.
For many years, a fair part of my professional life involved public policy—either directly or indirectly. I always found it interesting to watch to how our institutions worked in the real world and have continued to follow these issues closely. However, I recognize that the “sausage making” of government isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. For better or worse, political slogans are easy to digest and if your time is limited, they may be all you can absorb. To delve into how policy actually gets implemented takes a lot more effort and discipline.
At a personal level, I certainly sympathize with your views. I was as astounded and dismayed as anyone in November of 2024 for all the reasons we could both probably list here ad nauseam. However, I also understand the plight of folks whose understanding of “government” is limited to whatever they absorbed in a high school civics course—I’ve even got members of my own extended family who fit that description.
If you want to persuade people, you really do have to meet them where they are. That probably includes facing the fact the Republicans have been much better at messaging than Democrats have and taking a few pages from their playbook.
On whose part?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"There's a sucker born every minute" is a quotation often associated with American showman P. T. Barnum (1810-1891), although there is no evidence that he actually said it. Early instances of its use are found among salesmen, gamblers and confidence tricksters.