Tuesday, April 25, 2017
President Trump is facing a milestone: Saturday will mark his first 100 days in office. During the campaign, he promised certain things would be done in those first 100 days. So, how’s he doing?
In the closing weeks of the presidential race, Donald Trump issued his “Contract with the American Voter” – a to-do list for his first 100 days in office, a period that every new administration has been gauged by since Franklin Roosevelt’s first three-months in the Oval Office.
Candidate Trump repeatedly told crowds to “think about what we can accomplish in the first 100 days.” And some promises in that “Contract” have been kept: a crackdown on illegal immigrants, picking a new Supreme Court justice, withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
But that’s been dwarfed by the failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with a Republican health plan and ongoing questions about Russia’s interactions with the Trump presidential campaign. The lack of a signature legislative achievement has Trump scrambling to roll out a tax cut this week, although his refusal to release his tax returns could be a stumbling block. And there’s talk the health care bill could be regaining its pulse.
The president’s approval rating is the lowest on record of any freshman administration. Perhaps that’s why Trump is now downplaying the importance of the 100-day benchmark, tweeting that it was a “ridiculous standard.”
Mike Collins asks three political science professors to get their grading pens out and assess Trump’s first quarter.
GUESTS
Chris Cooper, Western Carolina University, head of Department of Political Science and Public Affairs (@chriscooperwcu)
Scott Huffmon, Winthrop University, professor of political science; Winthrop Poll director (@HuffmonPolitics)
Susan Roberts, Davidson College, professor of political science (@profsuroberts)