President Donald Trump gave his first State of the Union address Tuesday night where he touched on several topics in the roughly 90-minute speech, including a surging economy, infrastructure needs, immigration, terrorism and wars abroad, and more. After the speech, a CBS / YouGov poll found that most people who watched generally approved of it — including independents.
CBS News / YouGov poll found that three-quarters of respondents who watched the State of the Union, in general, approved of the speech — including 72 percent of independents.
“Eight in 10 Americans who watched […] 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,” reports CBS News.
The poll is of people who watched the speech and didn’t survey the general voting population. As is the case with most political speeches, more voters who identify with the party or political views of the president watched. CBS News found that 42% of viewers were Republicans, 25% were Democrats, and a third (33%) were independent.
The partisan reaction seems to be par for the course. As IVN political analyst T.J. O’Hara pointed out, whether you are a Democrat who disapproves of Trump’s policies and methods or a Republican who approves of the president, your opinion was not likely altered by the speech.
Did you miss the speech? Here are some highlights:
Video Credit: Washington Post
A CNN poll also found that over 70 percent of viewers generally approved of the speech, though they broke it down even further and found that 48% of respondents had a “very positive” impression.