As Republican lawmakers line up to torpedo one of the most popular legislative initiatives in recent memory, new data mined by The Economist reveals how dreadfully unpopular the GOP's major initiatives under Donald Trump were relative those being proposed by President Biden.
Political scientist Christopher Warshaw aggregated data for The Economist to find the average polled support for 17 key bills or executive actions dating back to the 90s, and the three Trump-era measures were literally the least popular while Biden's COVID-19 relief package ranked among the top five most popular initiatives.
The data was shared following an Economist/YouGov survey released Wednesday showing 66% support/25% opposition for Biden's COVID-19 relief plan—a survey that was actually on the lower end of polling support for the package. The Biden plan has polled higher in most recent surveys, including Quinnipiac (68%), New York Times/Survey Monkey (72%), and Politico/Morning Consult (76%).
Here's the tweet, shared by G. Elliott Morris, an Economist data journalist.
In the graph showing aggregate support, Trump's forced family separation policy along with the GOP's tax reform bill of 2017 and legislative effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (unclear exactly which one) all polled at roughly 20 to 40 points underwater. In other words, they didn't just split public opinion, they were in fact profoundly unpopular.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Biden's COVID-19 rescue package, which is nearly 50 points above water. (Yes, I’m eyeballing it because the precise data isn’t available.) As Morris points out, that makes Biden's bill the most popular key legislative or executive initiative since the minimum wage hike of 2007. Other highly popular bills included the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, the 1993 Brady bill, and the 1990 Clear Air Act amendments.
It's also worth noting that many elements within Biden's bill poll even higher than the overall package. The Economist/YouGov survey, for instance, found the following support for key pieces of the bill:
- $1,400 direct payments (79%)
- $160 billion nationwide vaccine program (74%)
- Extending the eviction ban (73%)
- Additional $400 unemployment payments (72%)
- Expansion of the child tax credit for up to $3,600 per child this year (69%)
- Additional funding to create state and local government jobs (64%)
- Minimum wage increase to $15 per hour (56%)
Everything there polls better than any of Trump’s key initiatives, according to Warshaw/Economist data. So Republicans, who just spent four years underwriting the least popular initiatives of the last several decades, are now lining up in lockstep opposition to the most popular legislative initiative in over a decade. Perfect.