New Poll Shows President Trump Approval Rating Exceeds President Obama At Same Time In Presidency
President Donald Trump is sitting at a 50 percent job approval rating per a poll released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports. The president’s current rating beats former President Barack Obama’s 45 percent approval at the same time during his presidency.
Of likely American voters, 34 percent “strongly approve” of the commander-in-chief. The survey also found 41 percent of respondents extremely critical of President Trump’s performance.
As reported by the Daily Mail, President Trump enjoyed a 50 percent or more approval rating during the first two months of his time in office. However, the onslaught of purported sexual harassment scandals, alleged collusion with Russia to influence the 2016 election, and other criticisms slowly brought the approval numbers down.
Also potentially pushing down Trump’s approval rating is the high turnover rate of White House staff. Several sudden position changes, including the press secretary, health secretary, and national security advisor, gives a sense of weakness and discord in the administration. The resignation of Trump’s staff secretary Rob Porter, amid allegations of domestic abuse involving two ex-wives, may have marred the White House as well.
Supposed turmoil in the FBI can be a factor in the fluctuating and sometimes low approval rating. The firing of FBI director James Comey last year and the recently admitted failure of the agency in regards to the Florida high school shooter, Nikolas Cruz, has possibly created some distrust in the government among Americans.
The Rasmussen Reports survey is one of many polls that track the president’s approval rating. On Wednesday, survey results released by Quinnipiac University showed only 37 percent approved of President Trump’s job performance. Real Clear Politics, who takes the results of multiple polls and averages them, found a 42 percent rating.
Today’s Rasmussen data seems to indicate the recent perceived uptick in the U.S. economy coupled with the successful passage of tax cut legislation have Americans feeling much better about the country. President Trump’s passionate State of the Union speech also helped push his numbers up.
Over a three-day period, the Rasmussen poll surveyed 1,500 likely voters with a 2.5 percentage points margin of error and a 95 percent level of confidence. Participants are demographically diverse and respond through telephone interviews as well as an online survey tool.
