It’s been well documented that President Donald Trump has sparked some anxiety in Americans, but people aren’t just worried about their own lives.
Six months into the Trump administration, nearly two-thirds of Americans are worried about the United States’ global reputation, according to a new poll.
The Institute of Politics at Harvard University released its Summer 17 poll on Thursday, which asked more than 1,000 adults — including 357 millennials — questions like how they feel about America’s stature in the world and how worried they are about the economy, health care and their financial prospects.
Overall, 64 percent of Americans said they are very or somewhat worried about the U.S.’s stature on the world stage. Only 8 percent of adults over 18 said that they were “very confident” about the country’s international position and 27 percent said they were “somewhat confident.”
When the poll looked deeper at what political topics were worrying Americans, the economy caused the most concern.
More than half of responders, 56 percent, said they were worried about the American economy, 40 percent said they were worried about their health care coverage and 39 percent said they were worried about their personal financial prospects.
“This poll confirms a sense of fear about the future I have encountered as we talk with Americans from across the country in town meetings and focus groups,” said John Della Volpe, Polling Director at IOP, in a statement.
“From our research, this goes far beyond views of the president or any party as Americans of all ages are seeking a transformational leader to end the chaos and reconnect us around a common purpose, at home and abroad,” he added.
The poll did ask specific questions about Trump, though. About 60 percent of responders said that they would choose to recall and replace the president — about a quarter of that stat is made up by Republicans and about 60 percent are registered Independents.
Trump’s approval rating is at about 35 percent, according to a Reuters poll released this week. That’s still better than Congress — only 20 percent of Americans approve of the way Congress is doing its job, according to Gallup statistics from early this month.
And yet, the majority of Americans are still OK with keeping Congress members. Just over half, at 52 percent, said they would not replace their state’s Congress member, with 45 percent saying they would (and 3 percent refusing to answer).
The question of replacing all members of Congress got a similar response. Fifty three percent of responders said they would not swap out the entire lineup, while 44 percent said they would and 2 percent declined to answer.
