Fox News poll: Majority say US worse off than it was 4 years ago

A Fox News poll released Friday found mixed reviews about President Trump’s job performance over the last few years, with a majority ultimately saying they thought the United States was worse off now than it was four years ago.

Fifty-five percent of voters in the the poll said they believe the U.S. is worse off now than it was four years ago, while nearly a third — 32 percent — said it was better off and 11 percent said it was the same.

Asked if they personally were better off than four years ago, 33 percent said yes while 36 percent said they were worse off and 30 percent said they were the same.

On the economy, 11 percent of voters rated the condition as “excellent” compared to 3 percent saying the same in 2016. The new poll found that 22 percent rate the economy as “good,” 32 percent rate the economy as “only fair” and 34 percent rate the condition as “poor.”

Trump’s job approval in the new poll registered at 47 percent, with 52 percent disapproving.

Asked how history will judge Trump, 42 percent said he will be viewed as one of the worst presidents in history, 22 percent said he will be remembered as one of the greatest and 26 percent said he was average or above average. 

The Fox News poll was conducted among 1,007 registered voters Dec. 6-9. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The poll comes as Trump has grappled with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected millions of Americans and left hundreds of thousands dead. 

Currently, 14 million Americans face eviction if a national eviction ban imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is allowed to lapse. Jobless claims for the first week of December also shot up to 853,000 in seasonally adjusted claims, a nearly 20 percent jump from the previous week and the highest reading since September.

The increase comes as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to set new records, leading states and cities to reimpose tough social distancing and lockdown measures that affect businesses.

The economy has also faced a rollercoaster year, with 2020 seeing the worst quarterly economic contraction on record while the Dow also broke 30,000 for the first time ever.