Newsweek
Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Plummets to New Low as Republicans Grow Wary Amid Russia Investigation
T. Marcin, Newsweek June 20, 2017
Another day, another low point for Donald Trump. The president’s approval rating, which has proved historically bad since he took office, has sunk again.
The latest survey from CBS News out Tuesday found his approval rating had hit a new low of 36 percent, while 57 percent disapproved of the job he is doing. Trump’s approval rating has declined over the last few months in the CBS News poll. Forty-three percent approved of him in early April, a number that dropped to 41 percent by late April and now has hit the new low of 36 percent in late June. The previous low for Trump was 39 percent in February.
Trump’s support among Republicans might have been a factor in the drop. Seventy-two percent of GOP respondents approved of the president’s job performance—which sounds like a lot but actually represents an 11-percentage-point fall compared with April.
The poll found that the investigation into Trump’s potential ties with Russia, the country that interfered in the 2016 election as it aimed to help get the GOP candidate into office, has dragged down his popularity. His firing of FBI Director James Comey and comments suggesting the move was connected to the bureau’s Russia probe, as well as his near-constant focus on the investigation, might not be helping him with the American people. Just 28 percent of respondents approved of the way he’s handled the probe, according to CBS, while 63 percent disapprove. About one-third said Trump’s approach on the process has left them thinking less of the president. Fifty-seven percent of GOP respondents approved of Trump’s handling of the Russia investigation.
Thirty-nine percent of all respondents thought the Russia investigation was a critical national security issue, while 32 percent thought it was a distraction. Twenty-seven percent thought it was a serious issue but not as serious as other issues.
The CBS News survey, conducted by SSRS, sampled 1,117 adults across the country though telephone interviews from June 15 through June 18. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points for the full sample.
Other recent surveys haven’t brought good news for Trump either. The tracking poll from the generally right-leaning Rasmussen Reports, a survey often cited by the president on Twitter, found Trump’s approval rating had fallen 2 percentage points over the weekend, to 48 percent. Gallup tracking poll, meanwhile, pegged Trump’s approval at just 38 percent Monday, closing in on the president’s lowest point in the survey—35 percent—which he hit in late March.
The weighted average from data-focused website FiveThirtyEight had Trump’s approval rating at 38.7 percent Tuesday morning, while his disapproval stood at 55.3 percent. FiveThirtyEight aggregates public polls to come up with the average figure and accounts for each survey’s quality, timeliness, sample size and any partisan leanings.