American satisfaction with direction of US plunges, poll says. What’s biggest reason?

Americans’ satisfaction with the direction of the U.S. has dropped to 20%, the lowest since 2017, according to a new Gallup poll released on Wednesday.

Satisfaction hit 45%, a 15-year high, in February and dropped 25 percentage points to 20% in June. Gallup said the drop happened in two waves: the first with the coronavirus pandemic and the second in May, coinciding with the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis police custody.

Only 6% of Democrats are satisfied with the direction of the U.S., the lowest since before the 2008 presidential election. Their highest level of satisfaction since President Donald Trump took office was 16%.

Of the Republicans surveyed, only 39% were satisfied with the direction of the U.S., while 80% were satisfied in February.

The poll says 19% of Americans said racism or race relations was the biggest problem in the U.S., the highest since 1968. Crime and police brutality were higher in the latest poll, with 3% and 2% saying they were the biggest problems, respectively.

Other reasons for low satisfaction include: the government/poor leadership, coronavirus and diseases, and the economy/income gap between rich and poor.

Floyd, 46, died while in police custody on Memorial Day, and his death sparked an avalanche of protests across the nation. He died after now-fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, as three other officers didn’t intervene.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao were also fired and arrested, charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

In September 2014, 23% of Americans said they were satisfied with the direction of the U.S. and 76% said they were dissatisfied, according to Gallup.

On Aug. 9, 2014, Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, was killed by white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting death resulted in national protests.

The new poll surveyed 1,034 adults between May 28 and June 4 with a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 2:59 PM with the headline "American satisfaction with direction of US plunges, poll says. What’s biggest reason?."