Source: Yascha Mounk
by Yascha Mounk
“Much more so than for his first term, Trump’s second victory in a presidential election gave him a robust mandate to govern. The outgoing president had grown deeply unpopular. There was widespread dissatisfaction with the political establishment and the functioning of some of society’s most influential institutions. Trump attracted many new voters, including from segments of the electorate on which Democrats had long counted for their supposedly inevitable victories. He carried every swing state. For the first time in his political career, opinion polls consistently found that more Americans approved than disapproved of him. Trump could have built on this mandate to make big and potentially popular changes. … But like so many times in the past, Trump has turned out to be his own worst enemy.” (04/30/25)