As the mainstream media has continued its unflinching coverage of salacious allegations of a Presidential affair, Trump’s polls have responded in kind. However, as details of Trump’s affairs with porn start Stormy Daniels, and now Playboy model Karen McDougal, emerge – his polls have reached a high of 50% !
The news is not all good, however – because as Trump has gained in the polls, it is because his support among men has skyrocketed, as it has collapsed among women. Support for the President among women has fallen from 41% to 35% in a new Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll, even as Trump’s support among men rose 3 points, to 53%.
Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll co-chief Mark Penn has named the split developing along gender lines the “Stormy Daniels Effect.”
“While President Trump’s overall ratings are stable, his support increased among men and dropped among women,” Penn said. “This poll was taken right after the Stormy Daniels interview and so I think this increased gender polarization is the ‘Stormy Effect’.”
Trump’s top personal lawyer, and private advisor, Michael Cohen has admitted to paying Daniels $130,000 just before the 2016 race, for her not to disclose the details of her and Trump’s affair – which occurred in 2006.
Regardless, the widening gender divide is causing some concern by Republicans, particularly as Democrats are gaining female supporters who have abandoned Trump. This new gender dynamic will make it harder for campaigns, on both sides of the aisle, to predict what will happen in the 2018 midterm elections.
“Republicans in Congress have fallen behind the president as they oppose his working class positions on tariffs and reject his moderate view on keeping guns out of the hands of those over 21,” Poll Director, Mark Penn said. “While Trump is taking positions more closer to Democrats in these issues, Republicans in Congress have isolated themselves and will need to regroup for the midterms.”
