Fox News poll: Voters like Obamacare more than GOP tax cuts

Erin Kelly | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Obamacare is more popular with American voters than the Republican-enacted tax cuts, according to a new Fox News Poll.

Slightly more than half of voters – 51 percent – had a favorable opinion of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

In contrast, only 40 percent of voters had a favorable view of the 2017 tax cuts championed by congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump, according to the Aug. 19-21 poll of more than 1,000 registered voters. The poll has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Democrats have made health care a big issue in the upcoming congressional midterm elections, charging that Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress have worked to undermine gains made by Obamacare in the affordability and quality of health care coverage.

Republicans, meanwhile, are campaigning on their tax cuts, which they say have spurred economic development and created jobs.

More: President Donald Trump's answer to Obamacare: Short-term health insurance

More: House votes to delay Obamacare insurance tax, loosen health savings accounts restrictions

Voters expressed a higher opinion of Democrats than Republicans in the poll, with 50 percent saying they have a favorable view of the Democratic Party and 39 percent expressing a favorable view of the Republican Party.

Trump did slightly better than his party, with 41 percent of voters saying they had a favorable opinion of the GOP president.

The economy was the only issue where Trump had a higher percentage of voters approving rather than disapproving of his performance. Poll respondents narrowly approved of Trump's handling of the economy, 49 percent to 44 percent.

On Trump's signature issue of border security, 44 percent of voters approved of the president's performance and 51 percent disapproved. On the broader issue of immigration policy, 39 of voters approved of Trump and 57 percent disapproved.

On international trade issues, 39 percent approved of Trump's performance and 53 percent disapproved. Trump has drawn bipartisan criticism for imposing tariffs on trading partners, prompting them to raise fees on food and manufactured goods coming into their countries from the U.S.

On foreign policy, Trump received an approval rating of 37 percent and a disapproval rating of 55 percent.

Trump received his lowest approval scores on the issues of health care and race relations.

The poll showed that 36 percent of voters approved of the job the president is doing on health care while 55 percent disapproved. Trump and congressional Republicans have tried unsuccessfully to repeal Obamacare but have taken steps to partially dismantle it.

On the volatile issue of race relations, only 33 percent of poll respondents approved of Trump's handling of the matter while 58 percent disapproved.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who is retiring after the November elections, remains the most popular congressional leader, although "popular" is a relative term.

Ryan had a favorability rate of 31 percent, compared with 29 percent for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., 28 percent for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and 22 percent for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Republican Sen. John McCain, the maverick Arizonan who is being treated for brain cancer, is viewed far more favorably than Trump or any of the congressional leaders. The senator, who has been highly critical of Trump on foreign policy, immigration and a host of other issues, received a favorability rating of 52 percent.

Among poll respondents, 49 percent identified themselves as Democrats, 39 percent identified themselves as Republicans, and 12 percent identified themselves as independents or "other."