Trump’s collapsing poll numbers matter—which is why Trump is freaking out!

Americans reject Trump at record levels

If you wonder if our fellow Americans are as disgusted/alarmed by Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office as we are, we got our answer. Over the weekend, we were treated to a glorious parade of one horrible poll after the other when it comes to Trump’s failed presidency. This CNN headline sums it up well: “Trump’s approval at 100 days lower than any president in at least seven decades.” That’s right, Trump has the lowest approval rating of any President at 100 days into a term since modern era polling began.

We are talking a new Pew poll finding Trump with a pathetic 40% approval, NY Times, Reuters and Washington Post all show Trump at 42%. Even Fox News noted that Trump’s 44% approval rating in their poll was far lower than any other recent president at the 100-day mark including Joe Biden at 54%, Barack Obama at 62% and George W. Bush coming in at 63%. (Imagine how much lower Trump’s approval numbers would be if he didn’t have corporate media and right wing podcasters bolstering him!)

All of this actually matters. And Trump—despite his obvious cognitive slide—gets it as well. That is why Monday morning he slammed the polls on social media as “FAKE POLLS FROM FAKE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS.” He then called out the NY Times, Washington Post and Fox News by name and demanding they be “investigated for ELECTION FRAUD” for these polls. (Trump left out the other recent polls that show the same horrible approval numbers such as Pew, Reuters, CBS and The Economist.) He added for bad measure that the media is “ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.”

We all know Trump aspires to be Vladimir Putin. But apparently he gets that even Putin is concerned with appearing popular. That is a point made by Professor Marcel Dirsus in his award-winning book, “How Tyrants Fall: And How Nations Survive.” As he writes, “One thing that helps to persuade people to tolerate or even the support the dictator’s rule is to give them the illusion that the dictatorship is supported by others.” That is why--as Professor Dirsus explains--even in dictatorships they hold very visible (although rigged) elections so that that the leader can claim he won big and is beloved by the people.

This very point is echoed in Gene Sharp’s book, “From Dictatorship to Democracy.” Sharp notes that, “contrary to popular opinion, even totalitarian dictatorships are dependent on the population and the societies they rule.” As Sharp writes, the power of the dictator comes from various sources, one being the “psychological” factors that the dictator has broad support causing many “to obey and assist the rulers.”

The opposite is also true. As a leader—be it a tyrant or a democratically elected—becomes less and less popular, they begin to lose their power in the eyes of the public. That is why Trump is so upset.

The practical impact of his record low poll numbers is that organizations, companies, people, etc. are now less likely to submit to Trump and instead be willing to fight back. That is why Trump is trying to undermine the poll results—the same way he undermined the 2020 election results. He wants at the very least his base to remain supporting him because that keeps the spineless Republicans in Congress in line.

Professor Dirsus in his book released in 2024, instructively details steps tyrants have taken when trying to hold on to power. The most notable tactic being very public “targeted repression” directed at certain enemies of the regime intended to intimidate others into silence and prevent opposition from growing. As Dirsus explains, the targeted repression tends to cause less of a backlash than efforts targeting the population as a whole—but that would be the next step.

We have seen this very playbook being used now by Trump with his targeted orders to punish those who have opposed him from law firms to universities to media outlets to individuals. That also explains why on Sunday night, Trump claimed all the protesters at GOP town halls are paid by Democrats and demanded punishment for these people he claimed have “infiltrated” these events.

Trump—or whomever is writing his posts—understands that the more people able to freely criticize Trump’s agenda, the more it will attract others to do the same. That is why Trump wrote in his Sunday post that Republican members of Congress should not just eject those daring to criticize the Trump agenda quickly but to “not treat them nicely!” In other words, rough them up as Trump once again employs the threat of violence to retain political power—one of the defining traits of fascism.

As Trump’s popularity slides and anger towards him grows—as polls show with the huge chunk of people who now “strongly disapprove” of his presidency—Trump’s power is fading. This could lead to him becoming more desperate and dangerous. The next step would be attempting widespread oppression of all who oppose him. But that will fail. Rebelling against a king is part of our DNA as Americans.

Trump should be aware of this statistic from Dirsus’s book. What percentage of dictators or democratically elected leaders since the 1945 who embraced tyranny ended up exiled, imprisoned or killed after leaving office”? Nearly 70 percent.

Trump is teetering on becoming a lame duck President. It doesn’t mean he will stop attempting to be a tyrant. But the more angry opposition to Trump grows, the less people will fear him—and the more he has to fear us. And that is why Trump is freaking out!

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