President Donald Trump's approval rating has taken some hits in recent weeks, but that didn't stop the team at "Fox and Friends"––one of his favorite programs––from describing his approval rating as “soaring” even though it is a significantly low approval rating for a president just ahead of a midterm election.
The “Fox & Friends” Twitter account posted an analysis of CNN’s latest poll that showed Trump’s approval at 41 percent, compared with 36 percent approval last month. "Fox and Friends" decided to focus on the five-point differential, misrepresenting its true meaning in the process. The program described Trump's approval rating as "soaring."
The tweet was quickly derided by social media users who noted the program's loose interpretation of CNN's numbers and was soon taken down. But the internet is forever, and many lashed out at the network for considering a 41 percent approval rating a "win" for the president.
CNN's poll found that those who "approve of the President largely say they are driven more by his views on the issues (72%) than by his personality and leadership qualities (21%), while those who disapprove are more apt to do so because of his personality (52%) than his issue positions (38%)."
A new Morning Consult poll on the 50 states updated last Thursday shows that the president's approval rating has dropped in every state since his inauguration. Some highlights from the poll:
- Trump saw the biggest loss in Utah: 58 percent of residents approved of him when he took office, and now 50 percent disapprove of his job performance. Just 45 percent continue to support him.
- Trump had a 52 percent approval rating in New Mexico in January 2017, but that number has since dipped to 41 percent in September 2018, with his disapproval rating sitting at 55 percent.
- Trump had a 55 percent approval rating in Arizona in January 2017; that number is now 47 percent as of last month. His disapproval rating in the state is at 50 percent.
- The lowest net rating change was eight points in both Alabama and West Virginia, where his approval rating is now 62 percent.
“Trump’s presidency has been largely about what people are willing to overlook for what they think is most important,” Jason Perry, director of the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics, told the Salt Lake Tribune yesterday.
Added Perry: "Right now we are seeing that even with a conservative Supreme Court nominee, new trade deals and the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, the balance has shifted in the minds of many voters as they react to some of the president’s more controversial qualities."
The president has often ignored or discounted polls that report low approval ratings. In August, his son, Donald Trump Jr., made headlines for doctoring a CNN graphic to show that his father had achieved a 50 percent approval rating.
"The doctored image intended to show his father’s approval rating at 50 percent versus President Barack Obama’s 45 percent approval rating," Second Nexus reported at the time. "Only the 50 percent for Trump failed to pass even brief examination."
It's not only stateside where Trump's approval rating has suffered, occasional jumps and all.
In fact, despite the president's claims that the United States, under his leadership is “respected” once again, new research indicates that America’s global image has suffered drastically since former President Barack Obama left office.
The Pew Research Center found that “as the second anniversary of Trump’s election approaches, a new 25-nation Pew Research Center survey finds that Trump’s international image remains poor, while ratings for the United States are much lower than during Barack Obama’s presidency.”
Pew found that:
- That “Large majorities say the U.S. doesn’t take into account the interests of countries like theirs when making foreign policy decisions”;
- that many people “believe the U.S. is doing less to help solve major global challenges than it used to”;
- and that “there are signs that American soft power is waning as well, including the fact that, while the U.S. maintains its reputation for respecting individual liberty, fewer believe this than a decade ago.”
Our closest neighbors also think less of us. Pew’s survey found that among Canadians only 25 percent rate Trump positively and 63 percent believe the U.S. is doing “less than in the past to address global problems.” 82 percent believe the U.S. doesn’t consider Canada’s interests when devising policy. Trump’s lowest ratings are in Mexico, which he has often scapegoated regarding illegal immigration. Just 6 percent of Mexicans expressed confidence in Trump’s leadership.
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