Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Slipping Among White Men, Will Syrian Strike Mean Bump In Popularity?

Donald Trump’s support among one of the key demographics that ushered him into the White House has started to show steep signs of eroding.

A recent Quinnipiac University poll shows that white men now support the new president at just 47 percent, down 11 pointss since the month of March.

Also, a similar poll taken by IBD/TIPP over the same time frame shows that Trump’s support among that same demographic has fallen from 59 percent to 49 percent.

The latter poll also showed a steep dip in Trump’s support among rural Americans, with numbers from a high of 56 percent to 41 percent over the month of March.

Overall support for the Republican president appears even weaker, with his approval ratings hovering in the low 30 percent range.

Such historic low levels of public support could prove to be a major hindrance to the president as he looks to push forward his agenda, including plans for sweeping tax reform and a potential $1 trillion infrastructure bill.

Still, less than 100 days in office, the first few months of Trump’s administration have been dogged by infighting at the White House, allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and a health care bill that failed to so much as elicit a vote in Congress.

“It could be that a candidate who built himself as a winner took a huge loss [on health care],” says Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll. “It could be that a candidate who built himself as a leader is presiding over a White House that to the minds of a lot of people is in chaos.”

The sputtering start stands in direct opposition to the persona that attracted many voters to Trump during his campaign and ultimate upset win over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

According to among many of those voters, Trump was seen as a “winner and a closer.” Malloy added, “Americans have not seen that side of Donald Trump.”

Among his remaining supporters, the growing hope seems that Trump will gain a bump in popularity from his recent strike against Syria.

Historically, that has been the case for sitting presidents. The last GOP president before Trump, George W. Bush, saw his approval ratings jump from 51 percent to 90 percent following the 9/11 terror attacks and the official start of the Afghanistan War.

Roughly 18 months later, his approval ratings also witnessed a significant jolt (up to 71 percent from 58 percent) when the U.S. invaded Iraq.

Bush’s father also saw his numbers trend upward with the start of the Gulf War. George H.W. Bush officially jumped 24 points, from 58 percent to 82 percent.

Before then, Ronald Reagan’s poll numbers spiked during the U.S. involvement in both Grenada and Panama.

The White House was surely aware of that history when Trump ordered 49 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired at an airfield in the city of Homs. The strike was in retaliation for what the administration condemned as a chemical weapon attack carried out by President Bashar al-Assad against his own people earlier this week.

The action was immediately condemned by Russia and Iran and here at home by several high-ranking Democrats.

Senate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called the military action a “proportional response.”

Thus far, Trump’s overall agenda has received as little support from Democratic voters as lawmakers from the other side of the aisle.

The latest approval rating conducted by Gallup puts his support among Democratic voters at just six percent. His support among independents is also under water at just 36 percent, significantly contributing to his overall dismal job approval rating of just 38 percent.

[Featured Image by Alex Wong/Getty Images]