With a little over a month left until the U.S. midterm elections, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pointed to unfavorable media coverage and a lack of public relations efforts as the reasons for his sluggish approval ratings.
Recently, Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, publicly acknowledged the possibility that a war with Iran could become a negative factor for the Republican Party in the midterms. When asked about this, President Trump remarked that "that could be," while explaining that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons should ultimately help in the elections as well. In fact, a recent Wall Street Journal poll showed President Trump's approval rating at 37%, reportedly the lowest level since 1990 for an incumbent president ahead of midterm elections.
Meanwhile, an interview with the U.S. weekly magazine TIME, released on October 1, laid bare President Trump's grievances against the press. Toward the end of the interview conducted at the White House, President Trump protested with profanity, complaining that the questions focused on negative topics and saying, "You didn't ask me a single positive question." TIME published the full transcript of the interview, including the remarks.
Sam Jacobs, the editor-in-chief of TIME who conducted the interview, appeared on NBC and explained that President Trump seemed frustrated because he felt his message was not being properly communicated to the public. In recent speeches and interviews, President Trump likewise claimed that the media immediately criticizes him for even minor mistakes, whereas they were much more lenient toward former President Biden.
Another reason for the drop in approval ratings pointed out directly by President Trump is "poor PR." He claimed, "No administration has accomplished the things we have accomplished, but we failed to get that message across properly. We did a terrible job on PR, but we ran the government brilliantly." He also expressed dissatisfaction with the Republican Party's PR strategy, arguing that his economic policies and deregulation achievements are not getting enough attention.
Starting October 1, President Trump officially jumped into a 32-day campaign tour to support midterm candidates, beginning with Texas and Oklahoma. Urging Republican supporters to turn out to vote by telling them to "pretend I'm on the ballot," attention is focused on whether his diagnosis—attributing his falling approval ratings to the media and poor promotion—will lead to any changes in the upcoming midterm elections just a month away.
(Produced by SBS Digital News | Reported by JIN Sang-myeong, Video Editing by Hong Jin-young)
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