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Trump Approval Rating: Bulk Of Americans Dissatisfied With President’s Efforts Of ‘Draining The Swamp’

By Thea Conrad
Published on: 08:00 PST, May 10, 2017

According to a Gallup poll given on April 21 and 22, more Americans than not are unhappy with President Trump’s progress of reforming Washington, a notion that his supporters routinely call “draining the swamp,” which means getting rid of the corrupt elite who run, and have run for many years, the dynamics of policy and government in America. Trump made draining the swamp a campaign promise, but 54 percent believe Trump has failed to deliver on that promise, while four in ten believe otherwise.

As most everything about The Donald’s presidency is compared to his predecessor Barack Obama, when given this poll on April 20 and 21 of 2009, fifty-three percent of Americans said they believed Obama had made good on his pledge to improve the inner workings of Washington.

Gallup notes that a poll taker’s political affiliation has a great impact on how they view President Trump, whereas with Obama, political preference didn’t make as much of a difference. Almost eight in ten Republicans believe Trump has made strides on his promise to drain the swamp, and almost eight in ten Democrats think the exact opposite. More Independents than not (59 percent) are dissatisfied with the president in this regard, and 32 percent say they’re satisfied.

Comey Gone

Of course, this data was collected before President Trump made the stunning decision to get rid of FBI director James Comey. At the time this Trump approval Gallup poll was given, no one had even an inkling of a suspicion that Comey would be gone in less than a month’s time. Surely this move constitutes as progress in the drainage of the Washington swamp, right?

According to Twitter, Trump supporters are very happy with the Comey firing, and many do consider it to be a significant step in the president’s swamp draining efforts.

On the other hand, the “Not my president” crew are completely convinced the FBI director’s firing is proof that Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin are in cahoots with each other.

Given that Republicans are more likely to vote favorably for most any poll involving the president and the opposite is true of Democrats, perhaps if this “drain the swamp” survey by Gallup had been given after the Comey firing, the numbers wouldn’t be all that different, because according to the Washington Post, even though Democrats have been unhappy with Comey for some time, they’re still more upset now that he’s gone than they ever were with him being the head of the FBI. The reason for this? It depends on whom you ask. The Post says it’s because, with James Comey in power, he was their best shot at nailing Trump on Russia. Also, the Democrats are reportedly close to powerless when it comes to stopping whoever is selected as Comey’s replacement.

Trump loyalists and right-wing news outlets say it’s because the Left will always, no matter what, go against the president; they will never be okay with his decisions even if it goes in their favor and makes them look like complete hypocrites.

As far as draining the swamp, many top-level Democratic politicians are considered part of the swamp, hence if Comey’s firing is considered to be a step in that direction, it’s really not surprising they’re sullen about it.

Gallup’s daily Trump job approval poll had him at 40 percent on Tuesday, which was before Comey was fired, and on Wednesday that number has not changed, though it’s unclear when the information for the daily polls are collected, so waiting one more day may yield a more accurate number to measure Americans’ reaction to this matter.

If this Trump approval poll concerning his progress on changing D.C. were given today, do you believe people would have voted differently in light of James Comey’s firing, or does the president’s decision to remove the FBI director have to do with the fact that Comey was investigating Trump’s ties to Russia and not with his desire to drain the swamp? Share your thoughts with us below.

[Featured Image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]

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