The 21 Series: The Numbers Don’t Look Good for You or Trump

(1/27/2019 emailed 21 Republican Senators up for re-election in 2020)

Trump’s approval rating stands at just 37% according to a new Washington Post-ABC poll conducted Jan. 21 through Jan. 24. About 58% of the public disapproves of Trump’s job performance — a figure that rose 5% since November. Far more people blamed the GOP for the shutdown, with 53% faulting Trump and congressional Republicans, compared with 34% House Speaker Pelosi and Democratic lawmakers.

Here are another set of number to pay attention to: according to an estimate on Friday from S&P Global Ratings, the cost of the 35-day shutdown was close to $6 billion. That’s $30 million more than the $5.7 billion Trump demanded for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. That money cannot be recovered; it is lost productivity.

This last point should make your hair stand up. Trump also lost ground when it came to who Americans trusted more over border security. He held a 10-point edge over congressional Democrats when voters were asked before the shutdown who they trusted more on border security. A Quinnipiac poll taken after the shutdown had congressional Democrats with a 5-point edge over Trump on border security.

Despite all the numbers that show Trump is losing public support overall and specifically with border security, he and his far right allies assert he could force another shutdown or declare a national emergency to get his way. Really, has he not learned anything? Have you learned nothing? If you follow him down that path, you will all be gone in 2020.