Vast Majority of Americans React Positively to Trump's State Of The Union

By Joe Cunningham | 8:33 AM on January 31, 2018

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Last night’s State Of The Union was Donald Trump’s first, with a president who is seen as controversial and divisive taking center stage to tell the American public what he had done and what he is going to do.

I did not catch the other networks’ responses, but ABC’s guests, with the exception of Chris Christie, all felt Trump’s speech was just as divisive as the rest of the presidency. Meghan McCain’s response was all about how she expected Trump to be more unifying and more bipartisan. A Democratic strategist whose name I can’t remember but was brought in to intro Joe Kennedy’s speech claimed the young, glistening politician would be unifying where Trump’s was dividing.

However, polling done by CBS seems to indicate that the pundit class did not have the same view.

Eight in 10 Americans who watched tonight felt that the president was trying to unite the country, rather than divide it, according to CBS News poll https://t.co/OZsw2drXbJ pic.twitter.com/6fEeSPMkdW

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 31, 2018

Views of the speech

Three in four Americans who tuned in to President Trump’s State of the Union address tonight approved of the speech he gave. Just a quarter disapproved.

How did the speech make you feel?

Eight in 10 Americans who watched tonight felt that the president was trying to unite the country, rather than divide it. Two-thirds said the speech made them feel proud, though just a third said it made them feel safer. Fewer said the speech made them feel angry or scared.

Policies you heard in the speech

On some of the specific issues the President touched upon, most viewers had a favorable opinion of what Mr. Trump had to say about the nation’s infrastructure, immigration, and national security.

Credit for the economy

And after hearing him speak tonight, 54 percent of speech watchers give him a lot of credit for the current state of the nation’s economy, up from 51 percent before they watched the State of the Union.