With Trump’s approval ratings so low, how does he keep ousting GOP rivals?

If the president Donald TrumpHow does he manage to outmaneuver Republican critics and impose his will on a compliant Congress as his approval rating is – and is – slipping into dangerous territory?

We might call this the 47th president’s political dilemma: Millions of voters who helped elect him in 2024 now disapprove of his job in office, a warning of weakness. However, the courage of his base is still unshaken; the toughest of any president in decades and a source of strength.

Just ask Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie.

The seven-term congressman lost the Republican bid for an eighth term on May 19 in the most expensive House primary in history. After Massie opposed Trump on issues from war to taxes to the Jeffrey Epstein files, the president helped recruit rival Ed Gallrein. Gallrein won.

“Third Class Congressman Thomas Massie…must be removed ASAP!” There was Trump A call was made to Truth Social. Two days later, Republican voters in the Bluegrass State complied.

In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whom Trump opposed because he defended the state’s 2020 election results, came third in the Republican bid for governor.

Raffensperger and Massie were the latest in a string of Republican officeholders with longer political resumes than Trump to find themselves facing involuntary retirement after getting on Trump’s wrong side.

In Louisiana’s primary three days ago, two-term Senator Bill Cassidy, another Trump target, failed to even advance to the Republican runoff. The primary field was led by Rep. Julia Letlow, who has won Trump’s support, and state Treasurer John Fleming, who has emphasized his loyalty to the president.

It was the first time since 2012 that a previously elected senator was defeated in the primary.

In Indiana, at least five of seven state senators who opposed Trump’s demands to redraw congressional maps lost their nominating battles in early May.

There’s no denying that Trump is in political trouble these days, with the polls falling below 40 percent for the first time in Trump’s second term, according to an unbiased view. Report Politically with Amy Walter – Red alert for Republicans in November’s vote. After all, a president’s approval rating is the most reliable indicator of how his party’s candidates will fare in midterm elections.

The views of a half-dozen groups of voters help explain how Trump simultaneously wields unprecedented control over the GOP while also leading his own ranks to potential setbacks, perhaps even disaster, within six months.

Where Trump is losing ground

Trump’s support among Gen Z voters is collapsing.

In the 2024 elections, Trump reduced the Democratic Party’s traditional advantage from 18 to 29 votes. CNN exit polls It reflected an important development for the Republicans.

There is now a clear disapproval rate among young voters at 38 percent, according to Cook Report’s PollTracker. Only 29 percent approve and 67 percent disapprove; It’s a dramatic swing fueled by concerns about the economy and opposition to war with Iran.

Hispanics are another group of voters where Trump has made significant inroads in 2024, supported by 46%. Today they disapprove of his work by about 2-1, 64% to 33%.

The swing, which is also linked to economic concerns among Latino voters, could be crucial in this decline in races in Texas, Florida and elsewhere.

And many independent voters who usually decide competitive elections also had second thoughts. The president received 46 percent of the vote in 2024.

It is currently underwater among independents by a 41-point lead (68-27 percent).

Where Trump is stable

But Republicans continue to overwhelmingly embrace Trump.

His approval rating among members of his own party currently averages 81%. That’s lower than the 94% who voted for him in 2024, but still a healthy number and higher than Barack Obama or George W. Bush were rated by their partisans at this point in their presidencies.

That foundation has allowed Trump to influence GOP primaries and generally defuse unrest on Capitol Hill, but concerns about the Iran war are testing that.

Trump also continues to maintain steady support among seniors. Voters aged 65 and over are now split into two, with 45% approving and 44% disapproving. That’s close to a nearly even split in the 2024 election, with 50 percent voting for Trump and 49 percent voting for Democrat Kamala Harris.

White Protestant evangelicals are among Trump’s staunchest supporters.

More than eight in 10 people voted for him in 2024. Approval rate in this demographic NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll In April it was 64%-34%; it was lower but still a nearly 2-1 margin to his advantage. 84 percent of those who said they voted for him in 2024 approved of the job he is doing.

On May 17, the National Mall was filled with MAGA hats and declarations of allegiance to the president at the Rededicate 250 celebration, a daylong prayer feast in honor of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Trump and his top lieutenants addressed the crowd by video and in person.

“We have to keep showing up,” said Shelley Tufts, 53, who runs a day care for children in Opelika, Alabama, and comes to pray with like-minded people. “We had lost almost all our freedoms before the elections.” But Trump “did a good job of turning things around.”

His support is unwavering.

This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Trump’s approval rating has fallen, but his grip on the GOP remains. From where? Ask Massie.