Pollster Lee Miringoff said in an interview that aired Monday on Hill.TV that President Trump has “a lot of work to do” for his 2020 reelection campaign.
“When you look state by state by state, some of the places he carried and made the difference are numbers that are in the low to mid 40s or sometimes even in the high 30s,” Miringoff, a director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, said, referring an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll released last week.
“At some point, he’s going to have to find a way to kick up his numbers, which is a long way of saying he’s got a lot of work to do for his reelection,” he continued.
Miringoff added that Trump’s current numbers likely “reflect that he’s been appealing to a base.”
Few Americans seem to support Trump’s re-election prospects, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll.
More than 50 percent of voters across the country, including 55 percent of independents, say they “definitely” plan to vote against Trump in the 2020 election, compared to 36 of voters who report that they plan to support him.
Nevertheless, Trump maintains strong support from his base. So far, he only faces one Republican challenger for the 2020 nomination, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld.
Weld announced his candidacy earlier this year, but he has failed to gain traction among Republicans.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) has also taken steps to ensure that a primary challenger doesn’t pose a threat to the president’s reelection efforts.
In January, RNC members unanimously voted to give the party’s “undivided support” to Trump in 2020. This marked a rare move, as the national party has historically refrained from expressing support for a candidate before they officially become the nominee.
—Tess Bonn
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