A little more than a month into the Trump administration, just about half of South Carolinians like the way the president is handling his job, according to the latest Winthrop poll, released Tuesday.
But partisan divides remain especially strong.
The semi-annual poll took a snapshot of South Carolinians’ attitudes towards Trump, Elon Musk, tariffs, immigration, and discrimination. It shows a state that is mostly evenly split overall on all those topics.
The poll also measured who is the most familiar name in the 2026 gubernatorial race, and even there, the most famous name in the mix – U.S. Rep Nancy Mace (R,1st) – is familiar to just over half of South Carolinians.
Trump, Musk, and SC lawmakers
According to Tuesday’s poll, 45% of South Carolinians approve of the way President Donald Trump is handling his job so far. That mirrors the latest Gallup poll, which also reported a national 45% approval rating for Trump through the end of February.
Among those who strongly identify with a political party, however, the differences are apparent.
“Among [Trump’s] base, he is wildly popular,” said Scott Huffmon, director of the Winthrop poll. “Among self-identified Democrats, he is wildly unpopular.”
Eight in 10 Republicans said they approve of the job Trump is doing so far; one in 10 Democrats agree, according to the poll.
This, said Huffmon, is not just a critical divide. It also gives a peek into the election process.
“When you look at the population as a whole, they're split and they're split just like the rest of the nation,” he said of South Carolinians’ averaged-out attitudes towards Trump. “However, our political system, the way it's set up is, especially if things are gerrymandered, what the general public thinks matters a whole lot less than what your base, who you need to win in a political primary … think.”
Most poll respondents said they did not approve of Elon Musk, a main Trump ally, having significant influence in the White House. Most respondents in each party do not want him to have any influence at all; about two in three respondents think Musk already has a lot of influence.
No state elected official held an above-water favorability in the poll. Governor Henry McMaster’s approval was 43%; Senator Tim Scott: 42%; and Sen. Lindsey Graham: 34%. Those are statewide averages for the Republicans.
Tariffs
Fifty-one percent of respondents said they understood how tariffs work and two in three said tariffs on imported goods will lead to higher prices on food, electronics, and other goods.
Thirty-nine percent supported tariffs on imports from rivals like China, but not allies like Canada, while 28% oppose and 33% neither supported nor opposed. Nearly half of Republicans supported tariffs on rivals but not on allies; 35% of Democrats felt the same.
Thirty-four percent of respondents did not agree that tariffs on imported goods will lead to more U.S. jobs. Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to believe that tariffs will increase U.S. jobs. Among Republicans, 48% believe tariffs will lead to more jobs; among Democrats, 16% say the same.
One in four respondents said they are stocking up on items they think will cost more if the U.S. enacts tariffs on imports. Republicans are stocking up less than Democrats.
Immigration
One thing that South Carolinians overwhelmingly agree on, regardless of party, is that immigrants in the U.S. illegally should be deported. Three-quarters of respondents – and 90% or Republicans specifically – said they support deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally.
However, South Carolinians were split over using active-duty military to find and detain undocumented immigrants in U.S. cities and towns. Fifty-one percent support this, while 49% oppose it. About 75% of Republicans said they supported the use of active-duty military, while 73% of Democrats opposed.
A little more than half of respondents said they oppose quickly deporting detained immigrants, which can involve separating families or sending people to countries other than their country of origin, and oppose deporting immigrants that came to the U.S. illegally as children. Seventy-nine percent of Democrats were in opposition, while 67% of Republicans said they supported deportation.
Discrimination
“A solid majority of Republicans say that African Americans face some discrimination,” Huffmon said. “But only a fifth say African Americans experience a lot of discrimination.
One of the interesting things that we've sort of seen come into the forefront of national politics is, is there discrimination against white people?”
According to white respondents, very much. Sixty percent of white respondents said there is some-to-a-lot of discrimination against white people in society; 18% of Black respondents said the same.
Conversely, 95% of Black respondents said there is some-to-a lot of discrimination against Black people in society; 73% of white respondents said the same.
Governor’s race, 2026
South Carolinians were most familiar with First District Congresswoman Nancy Mace and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, both Republicans, among six possible candidates for governor. Fifty-two percent of respondents said they were very or somewhat familiar with Mace; 39% were familiar with Wilson.
Republicans who voted in last year’s GOP presidential primary were especially familiar with Mace, according to the poll – 69%.
Huffmon chalked this up, partly, to Mace’s presence on conservative news channels.
“She has phenomenal name recognition [among primary voters],” Huffmon said. “Nancy Mace has made a concerted effort to make sure her name is in the news a lot. She appears a lot on Fox news or conservative media, and that means that the people who are most likely to vote in the Republican gubernatorial primary are much more likely to know her name.”
