Amid lingering tensions from November’s presidential election and the Capitol riot earlier this month, recent polling data indicates that more Americans now believe the country is headed in the wrong direction than they did December.
A USA Today/Suffolk University poll released Sunday found that 65% of respondents said the country is headed in the wrong direction, a roughly 16% increase since last month, when a Dec. 28 poll found that 49% of respondents thought the country was on the wrong track.
Two-thirds of Americans now say the country is headed in the wrong direction, a double-digit jump since last month, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll finds. https://t.co/mkt7A1NHZM
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) January 17, 2021
The number of Americans who said the country is headed in the right direction also fell by double-digit margins. Just 22% of respondents in January said the country is on the right track, compared to 34% who said the same in December.
Republicans were considerably more likely than Democrats to say the country is headed in the wrong direction, according to survey results. While 84% of Republican respondents said the country was on the wrong track, 52% of Democratic respondents said the same.
Respondents who thought the country was headed in the wrong direction — regardless of political affiliation — expressed more unfavorable views not only of both political parties but also of both President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden.
Suffolk University pollster David Paleologos said the Capitol riot and Trump’s second impeachment most likely contributed to the notable shift in public opinion over just three weeks, according to USA Today. Polling data suggests a deep partisan divide on both issues even as Trump’s approval rating has dropped to the lowest point in his presidency.
Some Democrats who participated in the survey told USA Today during follow-up interviews that they remain worried about the future of the country even with Biden’s upcoming inauguration Wednesday. (RELATED: Nearly Three-Fourths Of Voters Are Worried About Violence Before Biden’s Inauguration)
The USA Today/Suffolk University poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters via live telephone interviews between Jan. 12-15. The poll had a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points.