Obama: 72 Percent Approval Rating Among Muslims; Christians Not So Enthused

Barack Obama’s approval ratings have been in a free fall in recent months, but his support remains rock solid amongst one religious group — Muslims. According to a recent Gallup poll that considered President Barack Obama’s approval ratings by religion, Muslims were the most approving religious group in the United States by a significant margin.

A mere 20 percent of American Muslims indicated that they disapprove of President Obama’s performance.

In a related report in the Inquisitr, another poll showed that Americans now rate Barack Obama worse than George W. Bush.

Barack Obama’s second most enthusiastic supporters were the “others” who indicated that they were “other/non-Christian,” though that arguably doesn’t constitute a single group. In any case, the “others gave Obama an approval rating of 59 percent, with 34 percent thinking the president is doing a poor job.

Jewish Americans came in third, with over half (55 percent) giving the president the thumbs up and 41 percent disapproving of Obama’s performance. Jewish Americans were followed closely by atheists and those who practice no religion, of whom 54 percent approved compared to 38 percent who disapprove.

Barack Obama’s worst numbers came from those who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, more commonly known as Mormons. Mormons gave the president an abysmal 18 percent approval rating, with a full 78 percent giving Obama the thumbs down.

No Christian group sampled gave President Barack Obama an overall favorable approval rating. The president received his best mark among Christians from Catholics, of whom 44 percent approve, compared to 51 percent who have had all the hope and change they care for. Protestant Christians, with whom the poll lumped “Other Christians.” Presumably, this would include Pentecostals — some of whom see themselves outside of Protestantism — and Orthodox Christians alongside more mainline Protestants such as Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists. Protestants gave Obama a 37 percent approval rating against a 58 percent disapproval rating.

The poll did not further break down Protestants, which have vastly differing political stances on social issues from one denomination to the next (to say nothing of differing views amongst actual members). For example, the United Methodist Church doesn’t take an official stance against abortion (and in fact, many Methodists consider access to abortion a social justice issue), but Southern Baptists and most Pentecostal churches tend to take more conservative approaches to abortion and other social issues.

Notably, the poll also showed that Barack Obama had lost support across the board since January 2009 when he was initially elected. Obama’s approval ratings suffered the least among Muslims and “others,” among both of whom he lost five percent support. The president’s greatest slide was among Jewish and Mormons, among both of whom he has lost seven percent.

Obama’s drop in popularity among Muslims and the various other religious groups has more or less followed the ups and downs of his approval rating among the general population.

[Image via Shutterstock]