President Donald Trump’s economic approval ratings have cratered to historic lows, with new data showing him further underwater on the issue than any other president of the past quarter-century — a finding that carries significant implications for Republicans heading into the midterm elections.

CNN data analyst Harry Enten highlighted the figures on CNN Newsroom, drawing on a recent CBS News poll. “If I were in the White House, only one word to describe them: ‘Yikes,'” he said.

Just before Trump’s reelection, a plurality of Americans — 44 percent — said his policies were making them financially better off. That figure has since collapsed to 18 percent. Over the same period, the share of Americans saying Trump’s policies are making them worse off fiscally has surged from 38 percent to 53 percent.

The picture is bleaker still among independent voters, the bloc that typically decides national elections. Three in five independents — 60 percent — now say Trump is making them worse off financially, while just 13 percent say he is making them better off. That represents a 47-point swing from just before his reelection, when independents favored “better off” by two points.

Taken together, Trump’s net economic approval rating among independents stands at minus 48 points. Enten put that figure in historical context: it is twice as bad as Barack Obama’s net economic approval among independents at the equivalent point in his second term, when Obama was 25 points underwater, and worse by double digits than George W. Bush’s standing at the same stage of his presidency.

“He’s last in the pack when it comes to 21st-century presidents and how Americans are viewing him on the economy, at least among independents,” Enten said.

“If I were a Republican running for Congress, I would be shaking in place,” Enten said, “because there’s really nowhere to hide if you’re a Republican running for Congress and President Trump is in this bad a shape among independents and Americans overall when it comes to the economy.”

The poll results come as Trump’s approval ratings have been under pressure from multiple directions, including economic anxiety tied to the ongoing Iran conflict, rising gas prices linked to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, and broader concerns about the direction of the country. Midterm elections are set for later this year.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)