Trump's Approval Rating Is Better Than You Think
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Polls: Despite the overwhelmingly negative coverage of his administration, President Donald Trump's approval rating is as high or higher than half of the previous six presidents at this point in their first terms. You won't believe who scored better.
Trump has been enjoying a rare string of good news. The economy is humming and the jobless rate just hit a 49-year low. Trump won an intense battle over Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. He secured a replacement for Nafta. His poll numbers are edging up. And Republican prospects in the midterm elections appear to have improved.
But according to the Gallup Poll, Trump's approval rating as of his 632nd day in office was 44%.
Is that good or bad? That depends on the context. Trump has never polled well. Gallup had his approval rating at 45% the day he took office.
The mainstream press focused intensely on Trump's initial rating, which was well below those of any president since Gallup first started tracking this in 1945.
Even Gerald Ford's approval rating 90 weeks into his accidental presidency was 71%.
But the press lost interest in such comparisons as time went by.
Perhaps one reason is that, by this point in their first terms, approval ratings for most presidents had declined. Sometimes sharply.
As a matter of fact, Trump's approval rating is now higher than, or tied with, three of the past six presidents at this point in their first terms.
He's currently tied with Obama (at 44%), and above both Clinton (41%) and Reagan (42%).
Obama's approval rating on day one was 67%, but steadily declined as his economic policies failed to re-energize the economy, despite the massive stimulus, while he forced through the highly unpopular ObamaCare.
Clinton's eroded after he broke his promise on tax hikes.
At this point in Reagan's first term, the economy was in a painful recession, and unemployment was above 10%.
Needless to say, each went on to win re-election handily.
But look at who scored higher than Trump: George W. Bush (67%), George H.W. Bush (56%), and Jimmy Carter (49%). W. was coming off his sky-high approval rating in the wake of 9/11, which peaked at 90%. He ended his second term at 34% approval. George H.W. had just started building up troops in preparation for liberating Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm. Carter had recently signed the Camp David Accords.
What does all this mean?
First, it means that anyone who thinks Trump's low approval ratings today are a problem for his re-election prospects is mistaken. There's no correlation. Three presidents with ratings as low or lower than Trump's served two terms. Two with much higher approval ratings at this point ended up as one-term losers.
But there's a broader point here.
Democrats and the press keep describing Trump as a hugely divisive figure. But the polls show that his approval is starting to line up with previous presidents.
What's more, Trump's low numbers are almost entirely because Democrats are universally opposed to him.
To see this effect, look at the IBD/TIPP polls from the same month in the Trump and Obama administrations.
In October 2010, Obama had an approval rating of 42%. Trump's approval in the October 2018 IBD/TIPP poll is 40%.
Naturally, Democrats gave Obama a sky-high approval ratings, as do Republicans for Trump.
Among independents, there's almost no difference — Trump's approval is 33%, Obama's was 34%.
But there's a huge gap in how Democrats and Republicans viewed their political opponents.
At this point in Obama's presidency, 10% of Republicans approved of the job Obama was doing. And that was after his massive failed stimulus, his signing of ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank, and other policies highly antagonistic to Republicans.
Trump, on the other hand, gets approval from a mere 5% of Democrats. That's where it's been throughout Trump's presidency.
Republicans, in other words, were more forgiving of Obama than Democrats have been of Trump.
So, who's being divisive here? Trump and the GOP? Or the Democrats who will hate Trump no matter what he does?
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Trump's Approval Rating Is Better Than You Think
How do you know what I think?
Trump's Approval Rating Is Better Than You Think
Well as I would think it should be somewhere around, shall we say zero, anything above that would be better than I think.
My thought exactly.
The Democrats are losing voters at an astonishing rate.
Greg, I have no idea what the actual rate is but having more support for trump when the economy is doing well and the democrats main message is anti trump I’d say that would be normal.
Trump will probably never win over some to whom the economy is not their only or main priority in life though. Me included, I do not like this mans means and ways of accomplishment to that degree. Unless he changes, I doubt I ever will change how I feel and what I think of this man.
to each their own
As I have said the economy these days is not actually my main concern. I’m retired and out of the work force anyway. So honestly it is a little hard to say. My first instinct after reading your question was “I think I’d really check out any third party candidate at that point.”
In reality we are two years out and hard telling what will happen and where things will be then also what candidates will be running against president trump. LOL IF the democrats where to balance out the power and take the house and the senate back in two weeks I may feel safer and might actually consider voting for trump in 2020 (And I can’t even firkin believe I’m saying that !)
That ant gonna happen and I doubt trump changes his methodology so I seriously doubt he will be my first choice in 2020. (Yes regardless of the economy)
It’s not like I did not anticipate the jump up in the economy we are having now before trump actually was elected or took office and I didn’t vote for him last time. Especially now with the republicans in power and so many of them not holding the president as accountable as I would like to see that sure doesn’t give me reason to vote differently for him now.
Two years IS a long time in the political arena so I’ll see when the time comes and consider what the entire situation is at that time.
Thanks for asking I guess
Have a nice tomorrow? lol its 1 am here now.lol
It pales in comparison to the yearly rightwing voter loss attrition rate due to natural causes.
maturing democrats = oxymoron.
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"Trump's Approval Rating Is Better Than You Think"
And yet there is still a strong possibility that his party loses the House, that is how big of a piece of shit people think he is.
This is an editorial and belongs in the Op/Ed category.