Trump is racing against time

The president's approval rating is closer to Nicolás Maduro's than Vladimir Putin’s

This post is largely a response to an article Paul Krugman published last week. Krugman asks, in “Is the Jimmy Kimmel Saga a Sign that the Tide is Turning?”, whether Trump is finally overstepping the bounds of public opinion so much that elites who had been previously following his lead are now wavering:

As [Trump’s] poll numbers fall, he is rushing to lock in permanent power by punishing his opponents and intimidating everyone else into submission. Craven congressional Republicans and a complicit Supreme Court have abetted Trump’s destruction of our democratic safeguards and norms.

Yet Trump has a significant problem that neither Putin nor Orban faced. When Putin and Orban were consolidating their autocratics, they were genuinely popular. They were perceived by the public as effective and competent leaders.

Just nine months into his presidency, Trump, by contrast, is deeply unpopular. He is increasingly seen as chaotic and inept. As David Frum says, this means that he is in a race agai…