Tracking Public Opinion on the State of U.S. Affairs
Morning Consult surveys more than 3,000 U.S. adults daily on their views regarding the current state and trajectory of the country, providing an unparalleled gauge of public sentiment.
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Key Takeaways
Americans' optimism about the country's direction is on the decline in the wake of the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk last week. Just 38% of U.S. adults say the country is headed in the right direction, down from 51% in early June — the current high for optimism during President Donald Trump's second term in office. And at one point after Kirk's death, that number was as low as 37%, which is the lowest we've measured since Trump's inauguration in January.
Partisanship, as always, remains the key dividing line in views on America's trajectory, but it's clear that Kirk's slaying has shaken even Republicans' confidence in the U.S. trajectory. Our latest data shows just 67% of Republicans see the country headed in the right direction, down 10 percentage points from earlier this month and the smallest share since early February.
Independents' optimism about the country has also declined since Kirk's death. At one point last week, just 24% of independents saw the country headed in the right direction, the smallest share since before Trump took office this year.
Meanwhile, the meager share (21%) of Democrats who see the country headed in the right direction is effectively unchanged since before Kirk's death.
Data Downloads
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Perceptions of the State of Affairs in America: A Demographic Breakdown
Source of This Data
Methodology
Every day, Morning Consult surveys a representative sample of roughly 5,000 U.S. adults on average and asks the question, “Now, generally speaking, would you say that things in the country are going in the right direction, or have they pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?” Results are weighted to account for a range of demographic characteristics including age, gender, race/ethnicity, educational attainment and region and have a margin of error of up to +/-4 percentage points.
Reporting dates reflect surveys conducted the prior day. (For example, data points labeled "Jan 20 2025" reflect responses gathered Jan. 19, 2025.
About Morning Consult
Morning Consult is a global decision intelligence company changing how modern leaders make smarter, faster, better decisions. The company pairs its proprietary high-frequency data with applied artificial intelligence to better inform decisions on what people think and how they will act. Learn more at morningconsult.com.
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Cameron Easley is Morning Consult’s head of political and economic analysis. He has led Morning Consult's coverage of politics and elections since 2016, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Politico, Axios, FiveThirtyEight and on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. Cameron joined Morning Consult from Roll Call, where he was managing editor. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Follow him on Twitter @cameron_easley. Interested in connecting with Cameron to discuss his analysis or for a media engagement or speaking opportunity? Email [email protected].
