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.
Similarly, 54 percent after watching the speech said he had the right priorities, compared to 44 percent before the speech. That included 45 percent of independents after the speech, compared to 27 percent before the speech, an 18-point swing.
Overall, 62 percent of speech-watchers said the President’s policies on the economy — he spoke of his tax cuts, increasing domestic production, electricity generation and retirement savings while fighting to lower costs — would move the country in the right direction, including 90 percent of Republicans, 54 percent of independents and 16 percent of leaning-Democrats.
And a similar 62 percent said his policies on immigration — he spoke of sealing the border, ending catch-and-release and deporting criminal illegal aliens — would move the country in the right direction, including 92 percent of Republicans, 54 percent of independents and 12 percent of leaning-Democrats.
It was an overall favorable reception for the speech, but it was also a favorable audience: 41 percent Republican, 41 percent independent and just 18 percent Democrat, typical of State of the Union addresses, where the incumbent party is overrepresented, and the opposition party underrepresented.
Meaning, it was an audience that was more open to the President, and disproportionately included supporters who had voted for him, but still with some opposition watching, too.
Whether it results in the President getting a bump in approval ahead of the Congressional midterms in November — Presidents with higher approval tend to lose fewer seats — remains to be seen, but it also shows the Trump still has the ability to wield the bully pulpit to move public opinion.
A scripted event such as the State of the Union provides possibly the widest possible audience for such a rhetorical moment, but much of the impact will depend on just how large the audience was. How many millions of Americans were watching? The more, the greater the persuasion power, the fewer, the more who have already written off the President.
If nothing else, the outcome should demonstrate to the White House that when the President stays on message, he can indeed move the needle. Whether this is the start of a more disciplined President headed onto the campaign trail in 2026, or not, it shows that Trump is 100 percent in control of that outcome. It’s called the bully pulpit for a reason.
Robert Romano is the Executive Director of Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
