By Anthony Salvanto, Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto,
Fred Backus and Kabir Khanna
“In 2016, the earth shifted beneath our feet,” he said,
saying that a “rebellion” that started as “a quiet protest” morphed into “a
loud chorus” and finally “an earthquake.”
Viewers nationwide strongly approved of President Trump’s
speech Tuesday night, with many Democrats joining Republicans in calling it
“presidential” and positive in tone. Republicans and Independents found it
“unifying,” though Democrats were slower to come around on that measure.
The President gained support for his policy plans among
viewers: Interviewed before and after the address, they came away from it more
positive on his ideas for the economy, immigration, terrorism, crime and
Obamacare.
As is often the case in addresses to Congress, those who
watched were more likely to be from the president’s party – in this case,
Republicans. And they described a president they felt was keeping campaign
promises and offering an “inspiring” message.
While half of Democrats found the speech “divisive,”
about one-third of them also said Mr. Trump was “specific” and “knowledgeable”;
neither label drew a majority, but nonetheless sizeable numbers compared to the
more negative reactions Democrats have had to other aspects of his presidency.
And viewers of all stripes described the speech as at
least somewhat positive in tone.
Overall, most watchers approved of the speech.
Republicans did tune in to watch it in much greater numbers than Democrats (as
a president’s party typically does) which bolstered those approval numbers.
Forty percent of Democrats at least somewhat approved; 18 percent strongly
approved.
The president moved opinion among viewers on his plans
for a number of policy issues, comparing their views before and after the
speech. The percent favoring his plans for fighting terrorism, addressing
crime, improving the economy, handling illegal immigration, and dealing with
Obamacare all jumped.
Republicans and Democrats did see the president’s
description of the country quite differently. Most Republicans think Mr.
Trump’s depiction of the state of America is accurate, while six in 10
Democrats think the President’s description is worse than the country really
is.
There is agreement across party lines that Mr. Trump is
trying to do what he said he’d do during the campaign.
Reacting to the president’s description of the economy as
he took office, Republicans and independents think he did inherit a bad
economy, while three in four Democrats think the president took over an economy
that was already improving.
Majorities overall were positive toward his plans for the
military, trade, foreign policy, the budget deficit, and taxes. The president
won favor from viewers for his plans to build roads and bridges -- the one
issue on which his approach appealed to most Democrats as well as nearly all
Republicans.
For Republicans and independents, the speech boosted
optimism about what the administration will do moving forward. Just a quarter
of Democrats felt more optimistic.
As is typical for a presidential speech, viewers tended
to come more from the president’s own party; in this case more Republicans
tuned in. Historically, a president’s partisans are much more likely than
others to watch an address to Congress or State of the Union.
The poll was conducted immediately after the conclusion
of the president’s address to Congress by re-contacting a scientifically
sampled panel of Americans who had first been interviewed in the days leading
up to the speech and had stated that they planned to watch. A total of 857
speech watchers were interviewed. The margin of error for the total sample is
4.2 points.
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VIEW THE FULL SPEECH: President Trump's address to a
joint session of Congress
