Trump’s claim the tax bill is a win for Republicans is just wrong, new polls show

President Donald Trump and Republicans are touting their tax bill as a win for the party and celebrating the plan as a boon for America’s middle class.

But polling released Tuesday shows the tax bill is immensely unpopular among Americans, with voters now favoring Democrats over Republicans on the issue of taxes in a major shift that signals trouble for the GOP ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

Two polls showed just 29% of voters approve of the tax bill, which Republicans in the House and Senate are currently working to reconcile.

Gallup found some strikingly troubling signs for Republicans in its survey.

“Intensity seems to be on the side of the opposition, with Democrats paying closer attention to news about the tax proposals and appearing more unified in their opposition to the plan than Republicans are in support of it,” Gallup said in a statement about the poll.

That’s a sign the tax plan won’t help Republicans’ chances in the 2018 midterm elections and could instead give Democrats a key issue to run against.

A Quinnipiac University poll also found that 61% of voters think the GOP tax bill “favors the rich at the expense of the middle class” — the complete opposite of how Republicans have tried to sell the plan. Voters also don’t think the Republican tax plan will boost job creation, the survey showed.

Further, voters now trust Democrats over Republicans to handle the issue of taxes by a margin of 47% to 39%, according to Quinnipiac. That’s a big shift toward Democrats since August, when Democrats and Republicans were tied in the eyes of voters about which party could better handle taxes.

It’s unclear whether the glut of negative polling on the tax plan will imperil the tax plan’s chances at passage.

Republicans in the House and Senate are currently working to combine the bills that passed each chamber, given the significant differences on the two. Both the House and Senate will have to re-vote on whatever combined proposal emerges from the conference committee.