Poll: Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Crashes Before Inauguration, More Than Half Of Americans Think He’s Dishonest

With less than two weeks remaining before he is to be sworn in as the nation’s 45th president, Republican President-elect Donald Trump has seen his approval rating crater to just 37 percent.

A new Quinnipiac poll also finds more than half of all Americans find the career business mogul to be less than honest.

Trump has already drawn the ire of some of his most ardent supporters based on his apparent flip flop on the issue of the border wall he has vowed to construct along the Mexican border.

Throughout his campaign, Trump not only made the issue of building such a wall a platform of his candidacy, but he also vowed that the Mexican government would foot the bill for construction.

But since being elected, he has changed his tune and now admits all costs will be covered by American taxpayers, though he insists Mexico will ultimately reimburse the U.S. at some unspecified point and time.

Overall, researchers found that 51 percent of Americans now disapprove of the job Trump has done since beginning his transition into the Oval Office following his Nov. 7 upset win over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

By comparison, President Barack Obama’s approval rating during the first week of his first term in 2009 was 63.3 percent. Trump’s overall approval rating also falls 18 points below that of Obama, who pollsters found is poised to leave the White House later this month with a two-term best 55 percent approval rating.

Researchers also found that Trump’s “personal qualities” are now viewed much more negatively than they were when the poll was last conducted in late November.

In all, 51 percent of respondents agreed that Trump, who championed himself as the messenger of the common man throughout his campaign, does not care about average Americans and nearly one in three voters (32 percent) fear he will be a “bad” president over his tenure.

Overall, 28 percent of respondents insist they feel worse about Trump then they did on Election Day, when he squeaked past Clinton as the most unpopular president-elect in modern history and actually lost the popular vote to her nationally.

By a 2 to 1 margin, 64 percent to 32 percent, voters think he should give up his personal Twitter account as president and presumably rid himself of his habit of taking to social media to deride any and everyone who dares to criticize him.

Earlier this month, Trump took to Twitter to blast Academy-Award-winning actress Meryl Streep as “overrated” after she indirectly criticized him during a Golden Globes Awards acceptance speech over some of the antics and tactics he used during campaign season.

Specifically, Streep took him to task over his purported treatment of a disabled reporter, including mimicking and mocking the man.

More and more, Trump has made a habit out of using social media to blast and belittle anyone who musters up the courage to offer any public rebuke of him.

The Quinnipiac poll also shows that Trump now suffers from an overall drop in confidence among voters. While 59 percent of respondents expressed optimism about the next four years in November, that number now stands some seven points lower, at just 52 percent.

When it comes to the economy, just 47 percent of Americans now think he can help the economy, compared with 47 percent in November. On a more personal level, just 27 percent of respondents now feel he can help their individual situation, down from a high of 40 percent just eight weeks ago.

Collectively, just 45 percent of respondents now think he can take the country in the right direction, down eight points from November’s high of 53 percent.

[Featured Image by Drew Angerer/Getty Images]