Poll: Republicans Now Believe Country is Headed in Wrong Direction • Franknez.com

In a stark reversal just months into the Trump administration, Republican confidence in America’s trajectory has taken a nosedive, with only about half now believing the country is on the right track—down sharply from earlier this summer.

A fresh AP-NORC poll, released amid a wave of political assassinations, reveals how violence, economic pressures, and deepening social rifts are eroding even the GOP base’s post-election glow.

The survey, conducted from September 11 to 15, 2025, just days after the sniper killing of conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk on September 10, captured a nation on edge.

Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, was shot during an outdoor rally at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, the latest in a string of high-profile political deaths that have left Americans reeling.

Polling 1,183 adults via NORC’s AmeriSpeak Panel, the results carry a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

For Republicans, the shift is dramatic: Just 50% now say the U.S. is headed in the right direction, a 20-point drop from 70% in June.

Overall, only 25% of Americans share that view, compared to 40% three months ago.

Democrats and independents showed little change, suggesting the gloom is hitting the president’s own party hardest.

Younger Republicans and GOP women are driving the pessimism.

Among those under 45, 61% now see the country veering off course—a 30-point jump since June.

For Republican women, the figure stands at about 75%, up from 27%.

Even Republican men aren’t immune, with 56% expressing doubt, compared to 30% before.

Assassinations and Discord Fuel GOP Doubts

Experts point to a toxic mix of factors: the summer’s assassinations, stubborn inflation, job jitters, and a sense of national fracture.

Kirk’s death came on the heels of other tragedies, including the June 14 slaying of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband.

These events have amplified fears of escalating political violence, with a prior AP-NORC poll from October 2024 showing 42% of adults “extremely” or “very” worried about attacks on figures like Kirk or election officials after the presidential vote.

Chris Bahr, a 42-year-old Republican from suburban Houston, Texas, summed up the unease.

“I’ve spent a lot of time worrying about the worsening political discourse and, now, the disturbing assassinations,” he told pollsters.

“If you’d have talked to me two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have brought it up as a main concern but more of a gnawing feeling.

It’s something I’ve been thinking about. But now it’s violence, while before it was just this sense of animosity and division.”

Mustafa Robinson, a 42-year-old Republican truck driver from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, echoed that frustration, blending economic gripes with calls for unity.

“It’s like, you think you’re heading in the right direction with your career and your job, but everything around you is going up in price,” he said.

“It seems like you can’t catch a break. But we are also supposed to be united as a country and coming together.

And we are not. I’m so perplexed how we’re not on the same page about anything, so bad that these people are being shot.”

Crime and broader incivility weighed heavily too.

Joclyn Yurchak, a 55-year-old warehouse worker from northeast Pennsylvania, vented: “It’s all the violence, not just political. There’s just so much crime in the country. It’s disgusting. Nobody has respect for anybody anymore. It’s sad.”

Jeremy Gieske, a 47-year-old Republican product manager from Rogers, Minnesota, captured the raw anxiety: “We’re at each other’s throats. This viciousness on both sides.

We have villainized others, like we’re on the brink of social collapse. Is Kirk the straw that breaks the camel’s back or sets off a powder keg? It’s on everyone’s mind.”

A Rare Partisan Slump: Echoes of Past Crises

This isn’t your typical partisan dip.

Views on the country’s direction usually hold steady, but big shocks—like the COVID-19 outbreak’s early months or Democrats’ post-Roe v. Wade despair in mid-2022—can jolt even the party in power.

The GOP’s slide here outpaces the drop after Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss and mirrors pandemic-era unease.

As the White House navigates these headwinds nine months in, the poll signals a wake-up call.

With midterms looming, Trump’s team may need to recalibrate on everything from border security to cost-of-living relief to reclaim that lost enthusiasm.

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