How Do Voters In North Carolina Feel About President Trump? Top Pollster Discusses

On "Forbes Newsroom," Emerson Pollster Matt Taglia discussed a new poll showing how North Carolina voters feel about President Trump.

Transcript

00:00North Carolina is an interesting state, right? President Trump won by about three percent back

00:05in 2024. But there is now a Democrat governor who has just sworn in, Governor Josh Stein.

00:11So I want to talk about how North Carolina voters feel about each. First,

00:14start about President Trump. What's his approval rating in North Carolina?

00:19And Trump is just about split here. 46 percent approved versus 44 percent disapprove. You look

00:26at independents, and it's a little bit more stark, though. 47 percent versus 33 percent

00:31who disapprove. Looking at Stein, 41 percent approve, 25 percent disapprove, and then about 35 percent

00:42don't have an opinion. But that is a really high number for him. You know, he's got nearly a 20

00:47point lead as far as approval. And among independents, we see 36 percent approve, 18 percent disapprove.

00:55So the Democratic brand is certainly not toxic in North Carolina. There are Democrats who have been

01:02elected statewide, who hold office statewide. And right now, they have a positive approval rating.

01:08And that's especially good news if you're Roy Cooper running for the Senate. Someone who is not

01:14running for reelection is Senator Tom Tillis. He's a two-term North Carolina Republican. That was

01:20supposed to be a really tight race. What is his approval rating there? Does North Carolina like him?

01:29Yeah, and it's a little unfortunate for Tillis here. He's at 30 percent versus 43 percent who have a

01:35negative view of him. That's 41 percent negative among Republicans versus 35 percent, 43 percent negative

01:44among independents. So, you know, unfortunately for Tillis, you know, this is a case where he really

01:50made nobody happy. I think it would have been a real uphill battle fighting for reelection here.

01:58And so he's going to be leaving office with a low number. But it looks like he made the right decision.

02:06And like you and I have talked about for really the past over a year now, the top issue facing voters

02:13heading into the 2024 election was the economy. And North Carolina was one of the battleground

02:18states. Actually, all of the battleground states in 2024 ultimately went to Trump. But that state was

02:25red in 2024. And the economy continues to be the top issue facing voters. How do voters in North

02:31Carolina feel about their financial situation now?

02:35You're right, Brittany. It has been an issue. It continues to be an issue. 38 percent of North

02:41Carolinians say that the economy is their top issue, followed by immigration. I'm sorry, threats to

02:48democracy at 19 percent, which we've seen a trend of both nationally and individually in some of these

02:56states. And then immigration and health care, both at 10 percent. Drilling down a little bit and looking at

03:01folks' personal finances is that 40 percent say that their finances are worse now than they were a year ago.

03:0828 percent say that they're better off. And then 32 percent say that it's about the same as a year ago.

03:15Voters over 60 are most positive here. Republicans are also more positive by about 12 points.

03:22As you'd expect, this is partisan. Democrats say that they are overall worse off than they were a year ago.

03:29And then independents also say that they're worse off by about 20 points.