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45% Say Trump Governs Like Third-Party President

With President Trump bashing Republicans and Democrats in Congress, a sizable number of voters now regard him as independent of both major parties.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that a plurality (45%) of Likely U.S. Voters believe Trump, elected as a Republican, governs more like a third-party president. Nearly as many (43%) say he acts like a Republican. Only three percent (3%) think Trump governs more like a Democrat. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Thirty-nine percent (39%) of Republicans agree with 48% of Democrats and 49% of voters not affiliated with either major party that Trump governs like a third-party president.

When it comes to major issues facing the nation, 34% of all voters say their own views are closest to Trump’s. Fourteen percent (14%) agree most with the average Republican in Congress. Forty-three percent (43%) say their views are more closely aligned with the average congressional Democrat.

The latest findings are generally in line with surveys conducted throughout 2017. 

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on October 26 and 29, 2017 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Fifty percent (50%) of Republican voters think the president’s criticism of senators in his own party is good for the country. Only 35% believe the president should continue to rely on congressional Republicans to pass his agenda

Sixty-one percent (61%) of Republican voters say their views are closest to Trump’s, while just 26% say that of the average GOP member of Congress.

Among Democrats, 78% say their views most closely align with their party members in Congress, while 13% say their views are closest to Trump's.

Among voters not affiliated with either major political party, 28% say their views align most closely with Trump’s, while 11% side more closely with Republicans in Congress. Forty-one percent (41%) of unaffiliated voters agree more with the average congressional Democrat. However, a sizable 19% are not sure.

Younger voters are less likely than their elders to say their views are closest to Trump’s.

Sixty-four percent (64%) of black voters say they align more with the average Democratic member of Congress, while 41% of white voters and 37% of voters of other ethnicities say the same.

Women are more likely than men to say their views match the Democrats.

Among voters who Strongly Approve of the job Trump is doing, 55% say he governs more like a Republican, but 41% believe he’s more of a third-party president. Forty-six percent (46%) of those who Strongly Disapprove of his job performance say he governs in a third-party fashion.

Two prominent Republican senators who have decided not to seek re-election have been increasingly vocal in their criticism of President Trump in recent days. But most GOP voters want their party to follow Trump, not Senate Republicans.

Even Republicans don't see President Trump as a major asset on the campaign trail, and voters in general think support for the president's agenda is more likely to hurt rather than help a congressional incumbent.

Thirty-six percent (36%) of Likely Republican Voters say it would be good for the United States if Senator Mitch McConnell stepped down as majority leader, and 32% say the same of House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Perhaps that’s because just 25% of Republicans think their representatives have done a good job representing the party’s values.

But faith among Democrats in their party’s leaders isn’t much higher. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Likely Democratic Voters feel that the party needs to find new leaders.

Over half of voters in both major political parties continue to say that they are moving away from the positions of their party's leaders.

Voters are now more likely to believe Republicans in Congress are the bigger problem for the GOP president than Democrats are.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on October 26 & 29, 2017 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

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