President-elect Donald Trump rose to power with historically low approval ratings, and a new poll finds that even those numbers have fallen as Americans lose what little goodwill they had toward him during the so-called post-election "honeymoon" period.
Quinnipiac University's new survey, conducted January 5-9, reveals that voters nationwide disapprove 51-37 percent of "the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president-elect," while giving seven-year-high approval ratings to outgoing President Barack Obama.
All the results, including those giving him favorable ratings, are lower than they were in the last Quinnipiac poll, conducted November 22, the organization said.
The Washington Post sums up:
Although 59 percent were optimistic about the next four years under Trump in November, today that number is 52 percent. While 41 percent thought he would be a better leader than President Obama, it's now 34 percent. While 52 percent thought he would help the nation's economy, it's now 47 percent. While 40 percent thought his policies would help their personal financial situation, it's now 27 percent. While 53 percent thought he'd take the country in the right direction, it's now 45 percent.
You get the idea.
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
Progressive independent media doesn’t exist without support from its readers.
There’s no way around it. No ads. No billionaires. Just the people who believe in this mission and our work.
If you believe the survival of independent media is vital to do the kind of watchdog journalism that a healthy democracy requires, please step forward with a donation to non-profit Common Dreams today:
"President Barack Obama leaves the White House a lot more popular than Donald Trump is as he crosses the threshold and saddles up for the most important job in the world," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, adding that "voters' feelings about his personality traits, empathy, leadership, and level-headedness, are headed south."
Another 45 percent of voters said Trump's election makes them feel "less safe," and 72 percent support a review of his finances to identify possible conflicts of interest. Trump announced Wednesday that he would not divest his assets from his family's corporate empire while in office.
A majority of respondents, especially among young voters, also think Trump should close his personal Twitter account. The president-elect has become infamous for posting childish and vindictive remarks on the social media platform, including a call to expand the country's nuclear weapons arsenal.
"140 characters may not be enough to tell Donald Trump just how much Americans want him to knock off the tweeting," Malloy said. "While the president-elect argues his missives inform, many say stow the phone."
Quinnipiac surveyed 899 voters across the U.S. with a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percentage points.
