Most Say ‘No’ to More Public Anti-Trump Role for Obama

Former President Obama is reportedly planning a more visible stand against President Trump and the GOP to protect his legacy, but most voters think that’s a bad idea.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that just 30% of Likely U.S. Voters believe Obama should take a more public role in the Democratic opposition to Trump and his party. Nearly twice as many (58%) disagree and say the former president should not more actively oppose his successor and the GOP. Twelve percent (12%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Even Democrats are lukewarm to the idea of Obama’s reemergence: 45% say he should take a more active role in opposition to Trump and the Republicans, but 39% disagree, with 15% not sure.

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party by a 58% to 28% margin say Obama should not take a more public opposing role.

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The national survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted on March 2 and 5, 2017 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC . See methodology.

Most voters agree that it’s bad for America - and bad for the Democratic Party - if Democrats continue to flat out oppose everything Trump does. Even Democrats are conflicted about their party’s scorched earth policy.

The majority of voters in most demographic categories oppose a more public opposing role for the former president.

Those under 40 are more enthusiastic than their elders about Obama getting out front in the opposition to Trump and the GOP. Other minority voters like the idea more than whites and blacks do.

Yet even among voters who Strongly Disapprove of the job Trump is doing, just 48% believe Obama should take a more public role opposing him and his party. Among those who Strongly Approve of the new president’s job performance, 81% say Obama should not become a more public opposing voice.

Obama earned a monthly job approval of 56% in December, his final full month in office. That tied his highest overall approval in four years.

But a number of Rasmussen Reports’ regular social and economic indicators have shown increased optimism since Trump’s election in November. For the last six weeks, the number of voters who believe  the country is headed in the right direction has been in the mid-40s after running in the mid- to upper 20s for much of last year. This is higher than any week during the entire Obama presidency.

Eighty-three percent (83%) of voters think Trump is likely to reverse or abolish most of Obama’s accomplishments, with 47% who say that’s Very Likely.

Voters agree with the new president’s emphasis on job creation in his speech last week to Congress, and most expect him to achieve at least some of the ambitious agenda he laid out. Fifty percent (50%) think Trump will do better than Obama when it comes to protecting U.S. jobs and creating new ones. Thirty-four percent (34%) say the new president will do a worse job in this area than his predecessor.

If there’s one thing voters across the partisan spectrum agree on, it’s that the media isn’t trying to help Trump. That’s a big change from the Obama years.

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

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