As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s unsuccessful attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act have provoked the ire of many in the GOP, Republicans’ views of McConnell have become less positive. Currently, Republicans and independents who lean Republican are only slightly more likely to have a favorable (40%) than unfavorable view (33%) of McConnell. His favorable rating is down nine percentage points from April’s 49%.
The latest figures, from an Aug. 2-6 Gallup poll, were collected just before President Donald Trump’s attacks on the majority leader on Twitter, expressing frustration with McConnell over his inability to repeal and replace the ACA after long pledging to do so. Trump’s tweets came on the heels of McConnell’s comments that the president’s lack of political experience left him with “excessive expectations.”
Trump may have an edge over McConnell in terms of how the GOP views this public spat; Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are twice as likely to view Trump favorably (80%) as McConnell. The majority leader’s current favorable rating among his own party matches the average of Gallup polling favorable ratings about McConnell since 2010 when he was minority leader in a Democratic-controlled Senate.
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