A record he probably didn't want to break
In unsurprising news, a recent poll conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News has revealed that Donald Trump officially has the lowest approval rating of any president six months into their term. Only a rough third of the American population are enthusiastic about his performance since his inauguration, which was lower than unelected President Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton.
The team over at Langer Research Associates rang up a random selection of over 1000 Americans, asking them what they thought of the new Republican president. The results were overwhelmingly negative, with just 36% optimistic about his time in office versus more than half (56%) stating their disapproval. It's a marked change from his April ratings, when his approval was listed at 42%.
There were a few moments that drew particular ire, with 63% calling the recent controversy surrounding Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a high profile Russian lawyer ‘inappropriate’. More than half (55%) think that he has made few strides towards his campaign promises and his keystone proposed healthcare bill flopped with the population as well, with 50% preferring to keep the original law leftover from the Obama administration.
Many also didn’t trust Trump to negotiate effectively with world leaders and it’s been well-documented that he’s had a couple of awkward situations, slamming the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan for his response to the London terror attacks on Twitter and making a 'creepy' comment about First Lady of France Brigitte Macron upon meeting her. There's more than a few eyebrow-raising Donald Trump quotes that target political leaders, with his theory that Obama was born in Kenya and calling for his birth certificate taking the cake. (Obama later produced it, which showed he was born in Hawaii.)
Donald Trump stole the title of lowest six month approval rating from President Gerald Ford, who held office from 1974 till 1977. 43% disapproved of his time, with just 30% approving - the economy tanked during his presidency to lows that hadn’t been seen since the Great Depression. President Bill Clinton followed after with 51% disapproving and 45% approving.
In comparison, Trump’s predecessor Obama walked the middle of the road with nearly double his approvals at 59% and disapproval at 37%. President Harry S. Truman, who assumed office during the tail end of World War II, came out on top with an approval rating of 82% and disapproval at a 9% low.
Trump has since responded to the poll, trying diffuse the situation by saying on Twitter, ‘The ABC/Washington Post Poll, even though almost 40% is not bad at this time, was just about the most inaccurate poll around election time!’
Naturally, the poll has divided Twitter and cries of fake news have abounded, with Trump preceding the above tweet by saying ‘#Fake News is DISTORTING DEMOCRACY in our country!’
It is unknown if he meant to hashtag #fakenews as opposed to just #fake.
