About 32.6 million Americans tuned into President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union Address in his second term on Feb. 24, more than 5 million fewer than former President Joe Biden’s 2022 State of the Union Address of 38.2 million, according to the Nielsen ratings released after the speech.
Like Biden, Trump entered his second year in office upside down in the polls, a challenging rhetorical situation for any president, particularly headed towards the Congressional midterms when every House district and one-third of the Senate are up for grabs in November. Biden had inflation on the rapid upswing plus Russia had just invaded Ukraine.
Four years later, inflation is still cooling from its 2022 peaks and the war in Ukraine continues raging even as President Trump tries to negotiate a ceasefire and peace agreement.
While, Biden had a larger audience, that might be because Democrats were tuned in, versus the Trump speech, where they were largely tuned out, CNN polling data during both speeches shows.
In 2022, the 38.2 million viewers were 41 percent Democrat, 31 percent Republican and 28 percent independent, according to CNN. That breaks down to 15.6 million Democrats, 11.8 million Republicans and 10.7 million independents who watched the 2022 speech.
And in 2026, the 32.6 million viewers were 41 percent Republican, 18 percent Democrat and 41 percent independent. That breaks down to 13.5 million Republicans, 5.9 million Democrats and 13.5 million independents.
Meaning, while Biden had more Democrats watching in 2022, Trump had more Republicans and independents watching in 2026. The difference in ratings was singularly because Democrats have largely tuned out the Republican President. They don’t want to hear what he has to say.
The greater number of independents watching has got to be seen as good news by the White House’s political team.
64 percent of Americans said the policies proposed by President Donald Trump in his State of the Union address on Feb. 24 would move the country in the right direction, compared to 54 percent who said the same thing prior to watching the speech, according a CNN poll taken before and after the speech among speech watchers.
That included 56 percent of independents who said the President’s policies would move the country in the right direction, compared with 39 percent prior to the speech, a 17-point swing.
And 16 percent of leaning-Democrats after the speech, compared with 6 percent before the speech, a 10-point swing. And 92 percent of leaning-Republicans after the speech, compared with 88 percent before the speech, a 4-point swing.
If nothing else, it is something the President’s advisers can show Trump that when he builds his audience and communicates effectively, he can move the needle.
As a result, in 2022, Biden saw about to 2 to 3 percentage point increase in approval coming out of his speech. So, perhaps expect a similar jump by Trump in 2026 but it remains to be seen. As usual, stay tuned.
Robert Romano is the Executive Director of Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
