Trump Approval Rating Drops Below Roy Moore’s As Some Trump Voters Say He’s ‘Even Worse’

Donald Trump’s approval rating continues to drop, and this week his approval rating dropped lower than Judge Roy Moore’s, a Republican currently running for the Senate who is caught in a hotbed of sexual assault allegations. But Roy Moore is not alone; multiple politicians have come under scrutiny this week for sexually related complaints. Donald Trump’s responses, or lack thereof, to the reports have not gone over well with the public, and at least one of his own voters has called him “even worse” than Judge Roy Moore.

One of those accused this week of scandalous sexual misconduct was Democrat Senator Al Franken. He has been publicly chastised by Donald Trump, and some of Trump’s voters have a problem with that.

The other, Republican candidate for Senate Judge Roy Moore has not received the same public admonishment. Roy Moore, however, has been rebuked heavily by the court of public opinion.

Two new polls out this week show that the public opinion of both Donald Trump and Roy Moore is manifesting in low poll numbers. Roy Moore’s approval is dropping steadily, and he trails his opponent by eight points with a 42 percent approval rating in Alabama reports Fox News. Newsweek reports that Donald Trump’s approval rating fell from 42 percent to 41 percent this week in a Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll.

That same poll had Donald Trump’s disapproval rating at 59 percent. Mark Penn, co-director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll, said that Trump’s approval rating remains low despite the perceived success of his recent overseas trip.

“Despite a strong trip, President Trump’s ratings remain at a low point for his presidency. He is holding his base, but the fratricide in the Republican Party puts a ceiling on his support – the Republican Party itself has much lower ratings than Trump, as it has failed to produce for the voters.”

Other polls measuring Trump’s approval ratings have him at 37.9 percent approval for Real Clear Politics and 37 percent Gallup. But this week, Donald Trump tweeted an approval rating poll by Rasmussen Reports that boasted higher numbers by almost 10 points.

One of the most accurate polls last time around. But #FakeNews likes to say we’re in the 30’s. They are wrong. Some people think numbers could be in the 50's. Together, WE will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/YhrwkdObhP

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 14, 2017

Rasmussen Reports has been frequently criticized for being conservative-based and for not providing transparency on their polling methods. Trump’s approval ratings are likely to rise, however, if Congress is able to pass the GOP’s tax plan.

But the votes are not yet whipped on that matter, and that remains to be seen. Thus far, the Republican Party as a whole has been hurting with the court of public opinion due to their inability to produce any legislation.

Time Magazine reports that the polls say that Republicans should be worried — more worried than Donald Trump. While Donald Trump’s approval rating may be low, the approval rating of Republicans is even worse. Time Magazine reports that the Republicans in Congress are holding a 29 percent approval rating due to this current stone wall happening in Congress on every major piece of legislation that comes up.

Additionally, the Republican image took a hit this week when Republican senatorial candidate Roy Moore was accused by seven women of sexually inappropriate advances. One Alabama woman says she was 14 at the time of her sexual experience with Roy Moore. The age of consent in Alabama is 16.

Another woman, Beverly Nelson, held a press conference with legal eagle Gloria Allred and described a situation where she was locked in a car and assaulted by Roy Moore, before being thrown out of the car and left in the dark. She said she woke up the next morning with bruises, including on her neck and throat area.

Before these allegations, Judge Roy Moore was neck and neck with his opponent, Democrat Doug Jones, for the Alabama special election race for Senate. Fox News reports that now Roy Moore’s approval rating has dropped in Alabama, and his is trailing Jones by eight points in the polls.

The Republican Party has also pulled its funding from Roy Moore’s campaign. Roy Moore has denied the allegations of all seven women, and even put forth an open letter to Fox anchor Sean Hannity Wednesday evening.

But the open letter by Moore does not withstand scrutiny or fact-checking reports the New Yorker. Moore began his letter saying, “I am suffering.” He then went on to say that one of his victims, the one that alleges she was thrown out of a car, was before Roy Moore was a judge during her divorce proceedings in the Etowah County Circuit Court in 1999.

Moore said, “No motion was made for me to recuse,” adding that being the assigned judge to her case “apparently caused her no distress.”

An Alabama attorney has reviewed the 1999 Nelson divorce case and has called Moore’s claims in the open letter as, “completely disingenuous,” specifically in regard to the alleged divorce of Nelson at the time. The accuser in question was never actually “before Moore” as a judge, as her divorce was not litigated, and was ultimately dismissed.

“These are all unilateral actions by the lawyer for the plaintiff. A lawyer for the other side never even appeared. It is doubtful that these documents were even given to Nelson.”

Roy Moore’s signature appears on the motion for dismissal, but he bore no judgments or discretion in the case. As such, there would be no motion from Nelson for him to recuse, especially if she had not even been served the documents to begin with. The Alabama attorney also said the following.

“When an agreed motion to dismiss is filed, Moore would have no discretion and have to sign. Most likely, he never even looked at the parties’ names and Beverly had a different last name by then anyway. Moore’s lawyer’s statement that Beverly Nelson was before Moore in court and never objected to this circumstance was a lie.”

Roy Moore’s lawyers keep repeating these claims about Beverly Nelson and her alleged divorce. Rodney Ward, Beverly Nelson’s own attorney in that legal matter, said the following.

“I reviewed my file, and there was no hearing set in front of Judge Moore. Looking at a copy of the order, it looks like Moore didn’t sign it. It looks like it was stamped by his assistant….[had Beverly known] my client would have filed a motion to have the judge recuse himself, to have a different judge appointed. So I don’t even think she knew who the judge was. It was only, like, 60 days from the time the divorce was filed to the time it was dismissed. Maybe 90.”

Fox anchor Sean Hannity was satisfied with Roy Moore’s open letter. But at least some people of Alabama do not seem to be satisfied and are leaning away from Roy Moore according to this week’s latest Fox News poll.

Further, Donald Trump’s approval rating, and his perceptions by the court of public opinion, is dropping since the Roy Moore scandals came to light. One Donald Trump voter said that what Donald Trump has done is “even worse” while another said Trump was “just the same.”

What he did was inappropriate but what you have done and said is even worse. If you won’t say anything about Moore then you shouldn’t say anything about anybody. I’m embarrassed I voted for you, you’re an embarrassment to the Office

— Jennifer (@Jen209sm) November 17, 2017

Another fan of the Trump family took their frustrations out on Ivanka Trump via Twitter.

Another Trump voter lamented their angst about the Roy Moore scandal to former White House strategist Steve Bannon.

Democrats have been drawing comparisons between Roy Moore and Donald Trump for days. Now we are seeing Trump’s own voters do the same.

While he will always have a base, more of his voters every day are speaking out against some of his actions — or inactions. Donald Trump has not said anything publicly about Roy Moore.

He did tweet about Democrat Senator Al Franken, who has been accused of far less, and his own voters spoke against that. Meanwhile, an October 2016 Vox article chronicling multiple Trump accusers is making the circuit again on Twitter as the comparisons are drawn and the collective approval ratings tumble.

The Vox report chronicles at least 17 accusers of Donald Trump’s. They range from the story of Jessica Leeds, who the New York Times reported sat on a flight with Donald Trump and he allegedly tried to reach up her skirt. She described him as “like an octopus.” There is also the story of Jill Harth.

Vox also lists stories of guests of Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s Florida resort. Some guests say they were grabbed or kissed over lunch, or during their time at Mar-a-Lago.

The court of public opinion is drawing comparisons to Roy Moore and Donald Trump in many ways, and both politicians are seeing drops in approval ratings this week. Many are calling for both to resign from office.

Roy Moore has already been removed from the bench of the Alabama Supreme Court twice for actions deemed unconstitutional. The first was a 1995 ruling by a federal court that he refused to comply with, after Moore was sued by the ACLU, reports NPR.

He successfully won his seat back on the Alabama Supreme Court in 2012 but was soon removed after telling probate judges to back a ban on same-sex marriage, despite the fact that it had been deemed unconstitutional to back such a ban.

Roy Moore is also the founder of an organization called the Foundation for Moral Law, an organization that “defends marriage” and “religious freedom.” His wife, Kayla, is the president of the foundation. The core beliefs page says the foundation’s mission is to protect the Constitution, and also the following.

“We don’t run from our values, we protect them.”

Both Donald Trump and Roy Moore have also said all of their accusers are lying and that the accusers will face civil suits. To date, neither Donald Trump nor Roy Moore has filed a claim suing the accusers.

However, Roy Moore’s letter to Sean Hannity says the civil suit steps have started, and he cannot comment further than a three-page letter to Sean Hannity. Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s approval rating continues to slide, as does Roy Moore’s.

[Feature Image by Kham via Reuters Pool/AP Images]