Donald Trump obviously left office on a sour note in January 2021, written off by many opinion-makers and political professionals. Then, President Biden happened.
The most remarkable phenomenon of the 2024 election cycle so far is the rise of Trump nostalgia. It's difficult for anyone to have a new opinion about former president Trump, who is so well-known, so in-your-face, and so polarizing. Yet, people have a new, more favorable attitude toward his presidency in retrospect, certainly compared with the current occupant of the White House.
After about 36 months of President Biden, in other words, people yearn for the halcyon Trump years.
Consider the latest CBS News poll. It found that, looking back, 46 percent of people consider Trump's administration excellent or good, about five points higher than his average job approval when he left office. Only 33 percent say the same about Biden's time in office.
Even more starkly, on the economy, 65 percent think the economy was good under Trump, and only 28 percent think it was bad. In almost a mirror image, only 38 percent think the economy is good under Biden, and 59 think it is bad.
