podcast: Some of the voters who helped return President Donald Trump to office are now questioning whether his policies are actually improving their lives. USA TODAY National Correspondent Chris Kenning examines growing concerns about affordability, health coverage and tariffs, and what that discontent could mean for Republican turnout in the midterms.
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Dana Taylor:
President Donald Trump has long counted on white working-class and rural voters as one of the most reliable parts of his political base, but new polling and voter interviews suggest some of that support may be softening, with frustrations over the economy, healthcare, immigration, and the cost of living starting to surface. So what happens when some of Trump’s key voters are unhappy, but not necessarily ready to become Democrats? Hello and welcome to USA TODAY’s The Excerpt. I’m Dana Taylor. Today is Tuesday, July 21st, 2026. USA TODAY National Correspondent Chris Kenning reported on that question and he joins The Excerpt now. Chris, thank you so much for being here.
Chris Kenning:
Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Dana Taylor:
As I noted, Trump has long relied on white working-class and rural voters. What did you find that suggests his standing with some of those voters is weakening?
Chris Kenning:
That has been a really important group for a long time. And in 2024, two out of three white working-class voters backed him according to some exit polling. And he also won nearly 70% of the rural vote that year according to some of that same exit polling. Some people were drawn to vows to kind of reboot the economy post-COVID through bringing back manufacturing and industries like coal and cracking down on illegal immigration. But it’s been interesting because there’s been a series of polling from a lot of different organizations in recent months that has really shown that disapproval has started to rise among those groups, including reaching some slight majorities. And most of that seems to be driven by economic concerns, but you had a CBS poll in May that found 54% of white non-college voters disapproved of his performance, and that was up from 32% in February of 2025. Among rural voters, you had a June Reuters poll that found 48% disapproved of Trump, and that was up from 34% after he took office. So it’s a significant shift that we’ve seen.
Is Trump Losing His Grip On Working-Class Voters?
