Americans Appear To Turn On Melania Trump As She Hits All-Time Low Favorability Before Leaving White House
American sentiment about Melania Trump appears to have shifted significantly during her final days in the White House, with a new poll finding she has the lowest favorability rating of her tenure.
The CNN poll found that close to half of those surveyed now view her unfavorably, while the number who said they find her favorable has dropped 15 points since her all-time high more than two years ago.
“At 47%, more people have an unfavorable view of the first lady now than at any point since CNN first asked about views of her in February 2016,” the report noted. “The poll, conducted by SSRS for CNN, puts Trump’s favorable rating at 42%, with 12% of those asked answering they are unsure of their feelings about the first lady.”
It added that Trump’s highest favorable rating game in May 2018, when she reached 57 percent. That came after she and President Donald Trump had hosted their first state dinner, and she attended the funeral of Barbara Bush, an event that her husband skipped.
But her numbers began to fall from there, the outlet reported. By December 2018, public opinion began to fall after she was criticized for solo trip to Africa. The visit came under scrutiny from inside the administration, with deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel pushing back against the high cost of the trip and Melania Trump issuing a statement calling for her to be fired, considered a rare move for a first lady.
“It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that (Ricardel) no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House,” said Melania Trump’s communications director, Stephanie Grisham said.
Melania Trump has recently been criticized for her reaction to the attack on the U.S. Capitol, which led to her husband being impeached for a second time. While critics took aim at the president for delivering a fiery speech to supporters calling on them to march to the Capitol, which was then attacked by many in the crowd, Melania Trump remained silent for several days before releasing a statement that drew some sharp pushback.
She expressed sympathies for those who died in the attack — first mentioning an Air Force veteran shot to death as she attempted to break through a window into a hallway outside the House chambers — but later added what the Independent called a “self-pitying statement” in which she attacked those she believed gossiped about her.
