The President

Trump's Approval Rating Hits A Historic Low Point

According to a new poll from ABC and The Washington Post, no recent president has polled as low as Donald Trump six months into their first term.

Trump's Approval Rating Hits A Historic Low Point
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Article by Ryan Biek
SMS
July 16, 2017

According to a new ABC / Washington Post poll, no president in the last 70 years has polled as low at the six-month mark as President Donald Trump is now.

Thirty-six percent of Americans polled said they approved of Trump's performance. The president who came closest to that mark was Gerald Ford, who saw a 39 percent approval rating six months into his term.

Ford's approval rating sank early in his term after he controversially pardoned former President Richard Nixon — a decision that  later earned him the "Profile in Courage" award.

Trump's had his own controversies: 40 percent of those polled said they think members of his campaign tried to help Russians interfere in the 2016 election.

Fifty-five percent said they don't think Trump is making significant progress on his campaign goals, and two-thirds said they don't trust Trump to negotiate with foreign leaders.

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But there is some good news for Trump. For starters, the Democratic party isn't polling well either. 

In the same survey, only 37 percent of those polled said the Democratic Party "stands for something." Fifty-two percent said all Democrats are focused on is opposing Trump.

And in another recent poll that just looked at counties that voted for Trump, he sits at a 50 percent approval rating.

However, counties that flipped from blue to red between the 2012 and 2016 elections approve of Trump significantly less than those that voted Republican both years.

For his part, Trump doesn't seem too concerned about bad poll numbers.

He tweeted that winning 40 percent approval wasn't bad "at this time" and claimed that ABC and The Washington Post's polling was the most inaccurate leading up to the election.

A Fordham University analysis found the two most inaccurate polls the week before the election actually came from NBC and the Los Angeles Times.