With Trump’s approval rating in toilet, establishment Dems working to flush themselves

President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest point in the Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, but Democrats are hardly reaping the benefits, with the party’s own standing remaining deeply damaged despite a handful of popular progressive exceptions.

Trump’s approval among U.S. adults stands at 33 percent, with 66 percent disapproving—including 52 percent who disapprove strongly, according to the poll conducted Oct. 9-13.

The survey also found that 58 percent of registered voters prefer a Democratic-led Congress as a check on Trump, and Democrats hold an eight-point lead on the generic congressional ballot.

Yet 54 percent of Americans hold an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party, and a majority of the party’s own voters say the establishment is out of step on the issues that matter most.

“Democrats are seen as more trustworthy on many issues even though 54 percent of U.S. adults have an unfavorable view of the party,” the poll analysis notes, “perhaps because even more Americans—63 percent—dislike the Republican Party.”

The disconnect between the party’s leadership and its base is starkest on policy. While 74 percent of Democratic-aligned voters oppose U.S. military and economic aid to Israel—whose campaign in Gaza many prominent Democrats have labeled genocide—establishment Democrats remain committed to the military support.

Similarly, 84 percent of Democrats support Medicare for All, or single-payer universal health care, yet the party’s establishment has not embraced the policy.

The party’s campaign finance practices are also drawing scrutiny.

Candidates from congressional nominee Rebecca Bennett to incumbent U.S. Sen. Cory Booker are waging campaigns funded by corporate interests despite promises to reject corporate PAC money.

Federal Election Commission filings show Bennett, who claims she takes no corporate PAC money, has received PAC contributions, and a Republican complaint alleges her fundraising arrangement crossed federal election law.

On other frontline issues—cryptocurrency regulation, AI data centers, and fossil fuel pollution—establishment Democrats are disappointing their party faithful.

Booker apparently believes his re-election is assumed and he is already laying that groundwork for the 2028 presidential election, a display of arrogance that could surface in the next two weeks.

An overwhelming 84 percent of Democratic primary voters hold an unfavorable view of candidates backed by the cryptocurrency industry, viewing crypto more negatively than oil companies and Wall Street banks.

Democrats have signaled plans to expand oversight of AI development, but the party remains divided on how aggressively to regulate the energy-hungry data centers driving the AI boom.

And while a Democratic Congress could restore support for solar and wind power, the establishment’s response to Trump’s assault on democratic institutions has been uneven—some leaders focus on courtroom fights, while others urge a sharper message on economic corruption.

The exception to the party’s unpopularity is its progressive wing.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., holds the highest net favorability among Americans overall at plus-6, and is viewed very positively by Democrats at plus-71. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., maintains strong support among the party’s base, with some polls showing her favorability among Democrats above 70 percent.

Yet even those figures underscore the broader problem: the policies Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez champion—Medicare for All, opposition to unconditional military aid, and rejection of corporate money—command supermajority support among Democratic voters, but remain outside the establishment’s agenda.

The poll carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points for the full sample of 2,545 U.S. adults.