The Democratic Party is facing its worst public perception in over a decade and a half. A staggering 57% of Americans viewed it unfavorably, according to a newly released Quinnipiac University poll.
The numbers mark the highest unfavorability rating for Democrats since the poll began tracking opinions in 2008.
At the same time, support for the Republican Party has climbed to a 16-year high. The GOP now holds a 43% favorability rating, a full 12 points higher than the Democrats’ abysmal 31%, according to the survey.
This is the largest approval gap between the two major parties in Quinnipiac’s polling history.
The Democrats’ devastating election loss saw all 50 states shift to the right, a political earthquake that left the party reeling.
Despite frantic attempts to regroup, the leadership vacuum at the top of the Democratic ticket has only fueled internal divisions and messaging confusion.
Former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, both of whom exited office with historically low approval ratings, have largely disappeared from the public eye.
Biden, whose cognitive decline was a major issue during the campaign, left the White House with the lowest approval rating of any outgoing president on record, according to CNN’s Harry Enten.
Harris, who replaced Biden at the top of the ticket in a last-minute move by party elites, failed to generate enthusiasm among voters and fared no better in approval ratings.
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has reportedly urged his colleagues to focus on economic issues rather than getting sidetracked by Trump’s high-profile moves in his second term. But with the party still licking its wounds, the struggle to find a winning message continues.
Biden’s final weeks in office were marred by an unprecedented and widely criticized use of the presidential pardon power. The outgoing president issued preemptive pardons to five members of his own family, a move that 62% of voters disapproved of, according to Quinnipiac’s polling.
While Democrats are struggling to regain their footing, Trump has started his second term on strong footing, with a 46% approval rating—10 points higher than when he first took office in 2017. His policy moves, particularly his decision to send troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, have been met with overwhelming public support. According to Quinnipiac, 60% of voters back his border security efforts.
Even with some divisive actions—such as his mass pardoning of January 6 defendants, which 57% of voters opposed—Trump remains in a stronger position than his predecessor.
Perhaps most significantly, for the first time in 20 years, the Republican Party won the national popular vote.
The GOP also flipped four Senate seats, securing full control of Washington for the first time in eight years.
As the Democratic Party looks ahead, the road to recovery appears steep. With no clear leader to unify the party and a brand that has become increasingly unpopular among voters, many within the party are openly questioning how they lost their grip on power so decisively.
MSNBC’s Jen Psaki summed it up bluntly following Trump’s election victory: “I think Democrats are in the wilderness.”