Donald Trump’s approval rating hits all time low heading into James Comey testimony
Heading into today’s public testimony by former FBI Director James Comey, in which he plans to confirm that Donald trump tried multiple times to obstruct the FBI’s Russia investigation in illegal fashion, the big question on people’s minds is what kind of impact it will have on Trump’s approval rating. As it turns out, Trump is heading into the day with his worst approval rating to date.
In the months since he took office, Donald Trump’s average approval rating has been inching downward so slowly that the drop has at times been almost imperceptible. And yet the overall trend is undeniable. Trump entered office with an average approval rating of around 41%. But the three legitimate major polls that have come out in the past two days paint his approval rating as being notably lower.
The new Quinnipiac poll has Trump’s approval rating at just 34% (link), a new all-time low for him in that poll. The new Economist poll has him at 40% (link), which is down six points from where he was in that same poll two months ago. And the Gallup daily tracking poll, which tends to jump around much more than other polls, has him at 38% (link). Those three polls average out to 37.3%, an all time low for his average approval rating, notably below the 41% average he held when he first entered office.
That’s because, as I’ve previously spelled out numerically (link), Trump’s approval rating has nothing to do with his base, and everything to do with the largely non-political types in the middle who still aren’t sure what to make of him. His ongoing scandals, buffoonery, and ineptness are causing those types to very gradually turn against him. So now we head into Comey’s damaging testimony today with an eye on how the people in the middle end up viewing it. We’ll need to wait another week to see new approval rating polls that factor in Comey’s testimony. Follow Palmer Report on Facebook and Twitter. If you’re a regular reader, feel free to support Palmer Report
