Fox News Poll Shows Cost of Living Weighs on GOP
Left 75%
Center 0%
Right 25%
3 left · 0 center · 1 right
What happened
In mid-October 2026, two national surveys found President Donald Trump's approval ratings on the economy at new lows as early voting for the midterm elections began in some states. A Financial Times/Focaldata poll of 2,275 respondents found that 28 percent approved of Trump's handling of jobs and the economy, with his overall approval at 34 percent. A Fox News poll of 1,202 registered voters, conducted October 9–12, 2026, by Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research, put Trump's overall job approval at 36 percent—his lowest in any Fox News survey for either term—and found 22 percent approved of his handling of inflation, also a new low in that poll. In the Fox survey, 74 percent of voters rated the economy negatively, 55 percent said inflation was "not at all" under control, and 54 percent said they would back the Democratic House candidate if the election were held that day, compared with 45 percent for the Republican.
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2 of 4 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
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Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Left-leaning and right-leaning coverage are not reporting the same poll, so the approval low a reader takes away is a different number and a different question. Left-leaning coverage rests on a Financial Times survey in which 28 percent approved of Trump's handling of jobs and the economy. Overall approval in that poll was 34 percent. Right-leaning coverage never cites that survey and instead uses a Fox News poll in which inflation approval stood at 22 percent. Overall approval there was 36 percent.
Left-leaning coverage leads with how few approve of his economic handling. Right-leaning coverage opens on the claim that "the incumbent party is vulnerable" and walks through cost-of-living worries before giving the inflation rating.
Do the Financial Times and Fox News polls agree on whether approval of Trump's handling of the economy has hit a new low?
Bottom line
The Hill and Fox News each hang the economic-approval story on a different poll — 28 percent on the economy versus 22 percent on inflation — and neither mentions the other survey.
The receipts — 3 facts one side's coverage lacks
- 28 percent of respondents approved of Trump's handling of jobs and the economy in a Financial Times/Focaldata poll
- The Financial Times/Focaldata poll surveyed 2,275 respondents
- Inflation approval was 36 percent last summer
The Left View
The Hill presented the Financial Times/Focaldata results as a blunt verdict on Trump's economic record, headlining that "just 1 in 4" approved of his handling of the economy and tying the finding to midterm early voting already underway. The piece offers little beyond those topline figures, treating the survey as self-explanatory evidence of political trouble for the White House as ballots begin to be cast.
The Right View
Fox News framed the same weakness as cost-of-living concerns weighing on Republicans, writing that when voters rate the economy and the president negatively "just weeks before Election Day, the incumbent party is vulnerable, and that's certainly the case." It reported that six in 10 voters named cost of living as their top economic worry, that Trump's inflation score was his lowest issue rating, and that disapproval reached 77 percent on inflation, 70 percent on the economy, and 69 percent on tariffs. The network said the drop in overall approval was driven mainly by voters under 45, households earning under $50,000, non-White voters, and those without a college degree, and that 7 in 10 said they would vote to send a message to Trump. Republican pollster Daron Shaw, a co-director of the survey, said "Republicans have time to close these apparent gaps, but it's getting late." Fox also noted that Republicans retained leads on crime and border security, that both parties were seen as lacking a "clear plan," and that Democrats were trusted more on 10 of 13 issue concerns, including inflation and government corruption.
Our Take (balanced)
The left-leaning coverage's strongest argument is that approval of Trump's handling of jobs and the economy has fallen to about one-quarter of respondents in a large national survey just as ballots are being cast, a headline result The Hill treats as sufficient to signal midterm danger. The right-leaning coverage's strongest argument is that, even with those lows and a Democratic edge on the generic House ballot, Republicans still lead on crime and border security and a co-director of the Fox poll judged the gaps still closable, if late. The central unresolved tension is whether the new economic and inflation lows are already decisive for the midterms or remain contestable through turnout, late persuasion, and non-economic issues.
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