Navigator Research, a left-leaning research and public polling firm, had increasingly noticed that its focus group participants were not engaging with traditional news media but were still exposed to news through a patchwork of alternative sources online. So it held a focus group last month with 26 voters to look specifically at the types of information these passive news consumers were getting in battleground states, and what they thought about the media that shows up in their feeds.
News Type: News Mentions
Trump’s delusional tariff rally should terrify Republicans
In fact, Trump’s inability to shut up about his failed tariff scheme is one of Democrats’ biggest midterm blessings. Back in August 2024, a Navigator Research survey found that only about 35 percent of voters disapproved of Trump’s tariffs — mostly because the tariffs hadn’t begun to pinch consumers’ wallets. Voter disapproval of Trump’s tariffs grew nearly every month in 2025.
Trump Is Absolutely Flailing in High-Quality Polls
Add in surveys from Verasight (39 percent job approval), Reuters/Ipsos (37 percent), Navigator Research (37 percent), and The Economist/YouGov (34 percent), and there’s quite the collection of polls showing the president in trouble. What’s behind the downward lurch? It’s increasingly apparent that Trump’s support is pretty much limited to his party and his MAGA movement. Trump tied Kamala Harris among self-identified independents in the 2024 election. He now seems to be losing indies pretty dramatically. According to the most recent The Economist/YouGov survey, 19 percent of indies approve of the job he’s doing and 72 percent disapprove, with 60 percent disapproving strongly. CNN shows 24 percent approval and 76 percent disapproval, with 53 percent disapproving strongly, among independents. These numbers are not compatible with a midterm GOP victory unless turnout patterns are really skewed.
Planned Parenthood to target GOP with $47 million midterm blitz
But the group believes abortion-rights messaging still has salience. They pointed to recent polling from the Democratic firm Navigator Research that shows pluralities of Americans view banning abortions and cutting federal funding for Planned Parenthood as disqualifying positions.
Who Owns the Declaration of Independence?
Whether the stewards of our systems accept it or not, the politics of systemic collapse have returned. Last fall, CNN found that 76 percent of Americans believe the U.S. political system is in need of either “a complete overhaul” or “major reforms”; a similar poll earlier in the year from Navigator Research found 74 percent support for the assertions that America’s political and economic systems need “major changes” or need “to be torn down completely.” This past spring, nearly 60 percent of respondents to an NBC News poll reported feeling that both the American political and economic systems were stacked against them.
America 250: Black Americans Reflect on Freedom and Trauma
A recent Navigator Research survey found that many Black Americans question whether the nation’s celebration fully recognizes their history or reflects their lived experience. While Americans broadly view the anniversary as a time for unity, Black respondents were significantly more likely to say the country has yet to fulfill its promise of equality and justice.