Donald Trump Polls: Americans Increasingly Turn On President-Elect As He Reaches Historic Low Before Taking Office
Donald Trump is seeing a major dip in the polls, with Americans increasingly turning on the president-elect — including his own voters.
As he prepares to take the oath of office and complete an unlikely turnaround from celebrity businessman to president of the United States, Trump has reached a new low as his popularity plummets. A series of scandals, headlined by allegations that Trump has been in contact with Russia for several years to support his bid, have brought him to a low no president has reached before taking office.
A new Gallup poll showed that 51 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump and only 44 percent of Americans approve. The numbers showed a drop for Trump at a time when most presidents-elect are rising. Last month’s Gallup poll showed a split of 48 percent support and 48 percent opposition.
As The Hill noted, most presidents prepare to take office with soaring support.
“By comparison, Clinton had a 68 percent approval rating and 18 percent disapproval rating in Gallup’s final poll before his 1993 inauguration, former President George W. Bush had a 61 percent approval and 25 percent disapproval rating before being sworn in in 2001 and President Obama had an 83 percent approval and only 12 percent disapproval rating in the week leading up to his own Inauguration Day.”
And as MSNBC reported, even those who voted for Donald Trump are now starting to turn against him in the polls.
Trump slides in poll, even among Trump voters https://t.co/0Xxk4Tmklj via @msnbc
— Michael Nunziante (@m_nunziante) January 13, 2017
Those aren’t the only polls breaking against Donald Trump. After being grilled in his first press conference about a continued refusal to release his tax returns, Trump replied that only members of the media care about seeing his records.
“I’m not releasing the tax returns because, as you know, they’re under audit,” Trump said, and when a reporter pointed out that presidents have been release tax returns for more than 40 years, he responded, “Oh, gee, I never heard that.”
“You know, the only one that cares about my tax returns are the reporters, okay? They’re the only ones,” he said. “I won; I mean, I became president. No, I don’t think they care at all. I don’t think they care at all. I think you care.”
But as PolitiFact showed, the American public remains very interested in seeing Donald Trump’s tax returns.
“Pew Research Center released a new poll Jan. 10, on the eve of Trump’s latest press conference, that re-examined how voters felt. The poll showed that close to two-thirds of Americans think the issue is important. The poll was conducted Jan. 4-9 among 1,502 adults with a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points for the total sample.
“Sixty percent of the people polled by Pew said Trump has a responsibility to publicly release his tax returns. The numbers do vary broadly depending on political affiliation, however — 38 percent of Republicans or those leaning Republican agree he has a responsibility, compared to 79 percent of Democrats or those leaning to the left.”
The sinking poll numbers could be particularly difficult for Donald Trump as he attempts to weather his growing scandals. In addition to the still-unverified accusations of his collusion with the Russian government, Trump is also facing growing criticism for his seeming refusal to step away from his business ventures. Trump this week announced a plan for his adult children to run the company and claimed he would have no involvement, but ethics experts say this falls well short of the actions needed to avoid a conflict of interest.
Poll Shows Majority of Americans Aren't Confident Trump Can Handle International Crisis https://t.co/b1q355Y3QF pic.twitter.com/WoGz1VIPUl
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) January 3, 2017
Trump heads into office with Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, so he would be likely protected against any potential impeachment hearings for offenses while he’s in office. But if Donald Trump continues to see his poll numbers drop, and with the longtime GOP stalwart Mike Pence next in line, that could change.
[Featured Image by Alex Wong/Getty Images]
