Asshole of the Month: Donald Trump
After Trump’s second invasion of the White House last year, the future had never looked grimmer for Democrats. Those who hold no power can only protest in the streets—which Democrats and aggrieved Americans of all political stripes did furiously with the massive, nationwide No Kings rallies in June and October. But this, along with media editorials and symbolic acts of resistance in a Congress monopolized by Republicans, amounted to hollering in a hurricane, the impotent cry of the vanquished as the Trump juggernaut steamrolled over one longstanding tradition of democracy after another.
Well, hang in there, America, because the gut-wrenching despair has finally started to turn into something like measured hope. After less than a year in office, Trump’s net approval rating in 2025 plunged from +6 in January to –12 in December, a stunning 18-point decline, according to CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten. The falloff is mainly due to independent voters, those largely responsible for Trump’s electoral victory, who are now feeling disgruntled and betrayed to the tune of –43 points! The President is “hanging out with Jacques Cousteau. That is how far underwater [he] is with independents at this point,” says Enten. And Indies are not the only supporters jumping the Trump ship.
Trump proclaimed himself as a champion of the “working class,” workers without a college degree, the class neglected by the Democratic Party, which is basically what Bernie Sanders acknowledged. But while Sanders offered real solutions, Trump offered snake oil. But now his marks are starting to realize that they’ve been defrauded by a fork-tongued huckster. According to a December YouGov/Economist poll, Trump is underwater by –34 points with the blue-collar crowd (those earning $50,000 or less a year) as the costs of living that he promised to reverse have steadily increased under his watch.
