15 Things You Need to Know From the First Poll Conducted After Trump’s Press Conference With Putin

You may have seen a poll come out over the weekend about Trump’s (relatively) high approval rating. The problem is that poll was taken during Trump’s disastrous Helsinki summit, so his utter capitulation was not baked into the results. Yesterday, Quinnipiac released a poll they conducted after the summit, and it contains a lot of bad news for Trump—outside the de facto Trump cult known as the Republican Party. Here is what you need to know from this latest round of polling.

1. Trump’s Overall Approval Rating Fell to 38%

I say “fell” but it is within the regular channel for Trump’s approval ratings. The theme of this, and every other poll, is that there is pretty much just one group of people in favor of this president.

2. Trump’s Approval Rating Even Fell Amongst Evangelicals

This may be the canary in the coal mine. Trump’s most ardent supporters are Evangelical Christians, and they have typically hovered around 80% approval, but Quinnipiac has them at just 71% in favor of Trump’s job performance.

3. Whites Without College Degrees are Evenly Split on Trump

This is another important movement: 40% of whites without college degrees strongly approve of Trump, while 39% strongly disapprove of our president.

4. Republicans LOVE Trump

Despite slipping amongst two of his core constituencies, there is still (relatively) good news for Trump when it comes to his base: 82% of Republicans approve of him (I say “relatively” because a normal president should be concerned the moment their approval dips below 90% in their own party, but the Trump era has unleashed different standards on this rule).

5. Everyone But Republicans Are Embarrassed to Have Trump As President

No, really. Here are the figures on who is “embarrassed to have Donald Trump as president:”

84% of Democrats.

49% of Independents.

41% of men.

56% of women.

11% of Republicans.

No polled group other than Republicans has more people proud than embarrassed to have Trump as president.

6. Everyone But Republicans Think Trump Has Weakened the U.S.’s Position as Leader of the Free World

A plurality of men (45%), most women (57%) and a majority of independents (54%) believe that Trump has made our international standing worse. Republicans (77%) believe he has strengthened our foreign standing. This says a lot about how Republicans view “strength.”

7. Even Republicans Can’t Defend Trump’s Waffling on NATO

A whopping 70% of Republicans believe that “Donald Trump should defend all of America’s NATO allies.” Just 20% disagree.

8. This Question About Who to Trust Proves that the GOP Is Ostensibly a Cult

Question: Who do you trust more to tell you the truth about important issues: President Trump or the U.S. Intelligence agencies?

Nearly two-thirds (60%) of Republicans trust Trump over our intelligence services, while only 27% of Republicans will accept our intelligence agencies’ story over Dear Leader’s. That dynamic is practically flipped on its head when it comes to Independents, as only 21% would take Trump’s word, while 66% trust our intelligence services. Democrats are practically united on this topic, with just 1% stating they would trust Trump versus 93% coming down on the side of intelligence agencies (note to Democrats: you shouldn’t trust intelligence agencies this much, history proves that they’re not typically on liberals’ side)

9. Republicans Are Convinced that Trump Is Not Who His Actions Prove He Is

In response to the question, “Do you believe that President Trump wants to do what’s best for the country, or wants to do what’s best for himself?” a whopping 87% of Republicans believe that Trump is simply a selfless patriot who will sacrifice his interests for the countries’. Only 10% of Republicans operate in reality on this topic.

10. Republicans, Again, Are the Only Group of Folks Who Think the FBI Is Biased Against Trump

Further blasting a hole in the media’s “Trump’s base is whites without a college degree” thesis, 66% of Republicans believe the FBI is biased against Trump while only 41% of whites without college degrees agree.

11. Only a Majority of Republicans Think Trump Has the Right Attitude Towards Russia

This is a big split. 50% of men believe Trump is too friendly towards Russia. 46% of whites without a college degree and 56% of independents agree. Only 20% of Republicans side with the rest of us on this topic, while 72% believe Trump has the right attitude on Russia.

12. Almost No One Sees Russia as an Ally

Furthering my point that Republicans like the cultish image of Trump they constructed in their heads, but refuse to confront reality: no group polled had more than 8% (Republicans) state that they viewed Russia as an ally. It’s pretty hard to square that viewpoint with Trump’s assertion that America and Russia should work together on a range of topics (including our own election security), but alas, the Republican Party vacated reality a long time ago, so this type of dynamic should be nothing new to seasoned observers of politics.

13. Everyone Agrees that Russian Interference in the 2016 Election Is an Important Issue

75% of Americans say it’s an important issue.

52% of Republicans agree.

As do 95% of Democrats.

And 75% of independents.

60% of men are on board with this idea.

As are 78% of women.

Lastly, 67% of whites without a college degree agree that Russian interference in 2016 is important.

14. That Said, Republicans Aren’t Worried About 2018

Again, Republicans express cognitive dissonance where 2016 Russian interference is important, but somehow they don’t believe the Russians will be back in 2018. This poll demonstrates how Republicans are completely ostracized on this topic.

89% of Democrats are “concerned that the Russian government may try to interfere in the 2018 election.”

66% of Independents are concerned.

56% of men are concerned.

70% of women are concerned.

69% of whites with a college degree are concerned.

57% of whites without a college degree are concerned.

At least 56% of every age bracket (18-34, 35-49, 50-64, 65+) is concerned.

80% of black people are concerned.

61% of Hispanics are concerned.

34% of Republicans are concerned.

15. The Topic of Collusion Is Not Viewed As Taboo Anymore

You can probably infer what the Democratic and Republican responses to this question are, which is why I’m going to ignore them as they’re tainted by partisanship. But Independents? They don’t have a horse in the race, and they are a useful bellwether for the legitimacy of issues consumed by partisan rancor.

49% of Independents “believe that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election,” versus 40% who don’t. It should be interesting to see if these poll numbers shift once the Mueller investigation sweeps up people in Trump’s orbit like Roger Stone, who said that he expected to be indicted.

Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling.