Immediate reviews of President Donald Trump’s 100-minute Joint Address to Congress were overwhelmingly positive. CBS News/YouGov poll found 76% of speech watchers approved of the speech and just 23% disapproved. A net 69% of speech watchers told CNN they had positive reaction to, compared to a net 31% who said they had a negative reaction.
By The Numbers:
CNN has tracked positive/negative reactions to presidential addresses since 1998. Forty-four percent of watchers had a “very positive” reaction to Trump’s speech; 25% had a “somewhat positive” reaction. That compares to 53% who had a “very positive” reaction and 24% who had a “somewhat positive” reaction to President Barack Obama’s joint address in 2013; 60%-26% who had “very” and “somewhat” positive reactions to President George W. Bush’s address in 2005; and 52%-32% who had “very” and “somewhat” positive reactions to President Bill Clinton’s speech in 1998.
Before the speech, 61% told CNN that the country was on the right track. After the speech, this number increased to 66%. In Trump’s first address of his first term, he saw an eleven-point bump post speech (58% to 69%); President Joe Biden saw a six-point bump in his first address (67%-73%); Obama saw six-point increase in first address of second term; and Bush saw a ten-point increase (67%-77%).
In the CBS/YouGov polling, 63% of watchers said Trump spent a lot of time on issues they care about. Seventy-four percent said Trump was “presidential” and 62% said he was “unifying.” Even 68% of watchers said Trump has a “clear plan to battle inflation.”
The Bottom Line: The one caution for the White House is that they were playing to the home team. The CBS poll found 51% of speech watchers were Republicans, while just 27% were independents and 20% Democrats. That said, the chaotic and irreverent display from Democrats was manna for Republicans. While Trump takes victory laps, Democrats would be better served learning more from Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s measured response and stop the petulant antics in the House chamber.
