Nearly Half of Republicans Now Think U.S. Is on the Wrong Track: Poll

Nearly three-quarters of Americans believe that the U.S. is on the wrong track, according to a new poll. The survey also shows a significant drop in confidence in the country's leadership over the past month among Republicans.

Some 74 percent of people feel the country is going in the wrong direction, down from 60 percent at the start of May, according to a survey by the Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

Only a fifth (21 percent) thought that the U.S. was going in the right direction, down from a third (33 percent) at the start of May.

Broken down into party affiliations, nearly half—or 46 percent of Republicans—thought it was on the wrong track—a big leap from 28 percent in May. Over three-quarters (78 percent) of independents held this negative view as well, up from 63 percent a month ago.

The poll has a margin of error of 3.5 percent and reflects attitudes not just towards the presidential administration, but also others in authority.

The figures come as the U.S. reels from days of protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd and the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus lockdown.

The snapshot of adult opinions across the U.S. shows the most negative feeling towards the country's direction in the seven years Monmouth has carried out the poll.

"The racial unrest at the moment is feeding into this but also the president's response to that is not being viewed very positively," said Monmouth director Patrick Murray.

"So there is a sense building on top of the pandemic that we are dealing with that there is a lack of leadership in the country to quell what is going on," he told Newsweek.

"Either you are blaming Trump, or you are blaming leaders on the other side, the protesters, whoever it is. There is just a sense that there is chaos and it's coming from both sides.

"So depending on what side you are on, people are blaming different groups for this, arriving at the same conclusion that we are on the wrong track, but for different reasons."

"There is a big drop in the number of Republicans who think that the country is heading in the right direction but they are not holding it against Trump. They are saying that it is anti-Trump forces and anti-Trump leadership that is causing this unrest."

Meanwhile, separate polling data show that Trump's disapproval rating at its highest level since mid-November.

According to 538's tracker of Trump's ratings on Wednesday, his disapproval rating is 54.1 percent.