In one of the more memorable moments of his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump declared that his voters were so dedicated to supporting him that he “could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” as quoted by CNN . While his exact prediction has yet to be tested, his general point has held true.
Through the numerous controversies and crises of his term, many of them blamed on Trump himself, the president’s supporters have remained unswervingly loyal. According to the FiveThirtyEight average of all polls, Trump’s approval rating has varied by only a few percentage points ever since he was inaugurated on January 20, 2017, and today stands at 41.9 percent. By comparison, on March 28, 2017, Trump’s approval rating was 41.6 percent.
But a new poll released on Wednesday shows that, though Trump has not actually shot anyone while standing in the middle of 5th Avenue, there is one event that could cause him to lose significant support, even among his own normally loyal voters. That event would be an economic recession — a recession that, as The Inquisitr has reported, appears to be on its way sometime prior to the 2020 presidential election, according to data that has correctly predicted seven previous recessions.
According to the new poll by the research firm Morning Consult , 7 percent of voters who cast ballots for Trump in 2016 would hold Trump “solely responsible” for an economic recession, while another 42 percent would hold him “partially responsible.” In total, 49 percent of 2016 Trump voters say that they would blame Trump, at least in part, for a serious economic downturn.
While 10 percent of those voters say that they do not know who to hold responsible for a recession, 40 percent of Trump voters say that they would not blame Trump at all if the economy takes a dive, according to the Morning Consult results.
Among all voters, 69 percent would hold Trump at least partly to blame for a recession, spelling serious trouble for Trump’s 2020 reelection bid if the economy would indeed hit a serious downturn. Democrats blame Trump most of all, with 77 percent holding him responsible if a recession hits, and half of all Democrats saying that Trump would be “solely” responsible.
Among Republicans, 47 percent — two points fewer than specific 2016 Trump voters — would hold him to blame for a recession, according to the Morning Consult findings.
Meanwhile, Trump has simply denied that a recession would be possible, saying on Wednesday that the United States has “a strong economy,” as quoted by CNBC .
Trump has, however, predicted that if he were to lose the 2020 election, “there will be a Market Crash the likes of which has not been seen before!” as quoted by The Inquisitr .
But reporting by Bloomberg News showed that Trump’s prediction was likely well off-base because the stock market performed better under Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton than it has during Trump’s term so far.