A New Low

A New Low

From Letters from an American by Heather Cox Richardson

May 1, 2026 · 14 min

About this episode

The episode discusses Trump's declining approval ratings, rising gas prices, and various political events including gerrymandering and voting rights issues.

April 30, 2026 Trump’s approval rating hits a new low for overall job performance and for handling the economy, Gas prices continue to rise, Iran seems unlikely to open the Strait of Hormuz, Pete Hegseth testifies in front of House and Senate Armed Services Committees, On May 1, under the War Powers Act, Trump must either end the Iran war or get congressional approval, Corruption widens as does incompetence, Florida summarily approves a gerrymandered map, Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v Callais opens door to undercut access to the vote, Louisiana’s governor declares a state of emergency, suspending the primary elections, Other states are considering redistricting in the wake of the Callais decision, Trump worries about the upcoming election. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube…

People in this episode

Host: Heather Cox Richardson

Topics covered

  • Trump's approval rating
  • Iran conflict
  • gerrymandering
  • voting rights
  • economic issues
  • political corruption

Keywords

  • Trump
  • approval rating
  • Iran
  • gerrymandering
  • Louisiana
  • voting rights
  • political corruption
  • economy
  • gas prices

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: House Armed Services Committees, Senate Armed Services Committees

Places: Florida, Louisiana

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