INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Trump Approval Rating Today Plummets, Support For Trump Impeachment Climbs

By Christine Beswick
Published on: 05:07 PST, Feb 11, 2017

NBC News reported yesterday that the standard honeymoon period for incoming new presidents is not something President Trump is enjoying, as a new Gallup poll released yesterday shows Trump’s approval rating today has plummeted to 42 percent, far below presidents before him. It’s not just his approval that is suffering, a Public Policy Poll out this week also reveals that support for a Trump impeachment has climbed 11 percent within the past two weeks, and Americans are now “evenly divided” on whether or not Trump should be impeached.

Trump’s approval rating was at 40 percent one week ago, and 40 percent of Americans wanted him impeached one week ago, with 35 percent of Americans wanting Trump impeached two weeks ago as the Inquisitr reported. Today, his approval rating has inched up two points according to the new Gallup poll, but is still low, and Gallup says his inauguration approval rating was the lowest on record. Also today, 46 percent of Americans want Trump impeached.

[Image by Rick Bowmer/AP Images]

The majority of Americans are unhappy about a lot of things with their new president, and temperament is one reason. But his executive orders on the travel ban, deemed as a Muslim ban by many, are a key factor in his low approval ratings. So too is the executive order on the wall.

CBS News and CNN polls both show the majority of Americans oppose both of these orders. NBC News reports that six in 10 Americans do not want the wall, a number that has held since mid-January across ABC/Washington Post, Gallup, and CNN polls. Republicans do support the executive order for the wall at 80 percent, but as the Inquisitr previously reported, many top Republicans in the Senate don’t think the wall will happen as Trump has failed to provide a plan to pay for it.

Trump’s executive order on the immigration travel ban hit a stonewall this week when the second highest court in the land, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with federal judges in keeping a stay on the restraining order blocking the ban. Trump can take the order to the Supreme Court, but being a court that relies heavily on precedent, and two courts already setting a precedent against the president, he faces many hurdles with the travel ban before even making it to the Supreme Court.

How Trump has handled the loss on the judicial ruling on his immigration travel ban has not done much to help his approval rating. The phrase “SEE YOU IN COURT” in all caps immediately after the ruling, led to much mockery and buffoonery fan fare on Twitter on the same night.

This mockery on the buffoonery is not just Twitter talk. The Public Policy Polling assessing the temperature on Americans supporting impeachment reports that 53 percent of Americans trust judges to make the right decisions in court, and 64 percent of voters think Trump should not be mocking judges publicly. More so, even Trump’s own pick for the Supreme Court has criticized his position in attacking judges publicly.

Whether Trump will take his travel ban to the Supreme Court remains to be seen, but if he does so, he’s doing it with very little support, and it will take months if not years for that to be ultimately ruled on. Further, Public Policy Polling shows that 66 percent of Americans think he is “over reaching” when it comes to keeping the public safe, and this 66 percent already think America is safe with 49 percent of voters opposing the travel ban.

Forty-eight percent of voters think that the executive order called a travel ban is actually a “Muslim ban” and 65 percent of voters oppose a Muslim ban.

[Image by Susan Walsh/AP Images]

The matter of the wall is a matter that is not as easy to force through into the lives of Americans as the ban initially was, as NBC News reports it is a “real object that will cost billions to build.”

And even though Republican Congress may favor the wall, without the funds, or a plan to find the funds, it’s not going to happen. Trump is in a pickle here because taxing Americans to pay for the wall would mean breaking many campaign promises that got him into the Oval Office.

But, even worse for Trump than the news that his first and biggest executive orders will struggle to go anywhere, is the information that not only is Trump’s approval rating today plummeting, but support for his impeachment is on the rise. The Public Policy Poll out this week showed that 46 percent of Americans want Trump impeached.

This number is up from 35 percent two weeks ago. There are many reasons for this, as cited in the Public Policy Poll.

Who Trump surrounds himself with is a key point of contention for Americans noting their concerns in this poll. This week was a rough week for the president, with his chief counselor Kellyanne Conway coming under scrutiny for allegedly breaking federal ethics violations when she promoted Ivanka Trump’s clothing line on Fox News.

Kellyanne Conway not only encouraged Americans to buy Ivanka Trump’s products, but also proudly claimed that she was using the air time on Fox News for promotional purposes for the White House. The Guardian reports that after Nordstrom’s dropped Ivanka Trump’s line this week, a move that upset President Trump greatly, Kellyanne Conway said the following.

“Go buy Ivanka’s stuff is what I would say. I hate shopping – I’m going to buy stuff today. It’s a wonderful line, I own some of it. I’m going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.”

What she did was an offense that most administrations would consider a “fire-able” offense. It violated article 2635.702 of Section G, the Misuse of Position section in the Standards of Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch. Violating that code is akin to violating federal law, and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating it.

The Public Policy Poll also found that the people surrounding Trump are a key factor supporting the rise in support for impeachment. Kellyanne Conway has a favorability rating of 34 percent, Press Secretary Sean Spicer has an approval rating of 32 percent, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has an approval rating of 27 percent, and Steve Bannon has an approval rating of 22 percent.

In the Gallup poll also released this week, Trump’s approval rating today on how he stands in the world is lower than any other recent president. Only 29 percent of Americans think America has a good standing in the world.

Not helping this matter is how Trump handles world affairs. Just last night Trump tweeted a picture of himself with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, and referred to him as “Prime Minister Shinzo.”

That would be the equivalent of Trump referring to the Canadian Prime Minister as “Prime Minister Justin” who Trump is set to meet on Monday, or of Prime Minister Trudeau referring to the American leader as “President Donald.”

While Trump’s antics may have charmed a segment of the American population enough to put him in the White House, they are the same antics now impacting American standing in the world, and the same ones that are leading many to now consider Canada new leader of the free world as the Inquisitr previously reported.

How Trump handles foreign policy is affecting Trump’s approval rating today, and also lending support for his impeachment. Trump has antagonized Australia, who Americans give 76 percent favorability rating, and has been warm to Russia, whom Americans only give a 13 percent favorability rating. Vladimir Putin has a 10 percent favorability rating in the same poll, and only 7 percent of American voters in this poll support Trump’s threats to invade Mexico.

Overall transparency of Trump and his Administration are another key issue with voters lending support to a Trump impeachment. Public Policy Polling this week cited “basic transparency concerns” for Trump, with 62 percent of American voters saying he needs to fully divest, and 58 percent of Americans demanding he release his tax returns.

Many Americans have an issue with Trump possibly breaking emoluments clause of the Constitution, which would be an impeachable offense. One lawsuit on the matter surfaced this week launched by an Oregon inmate.

Additionally, 53 percent of Americans would support legislation mandating Presidents release five years of tax returns that would provide greater transparency on emoluments issues. Senator Chris Murphy has sponsored a bill called the Presidential Tax Transparency Act in the hopes of making that idea a reality. Citizens can sign the bill as co-sponsors.

Finally, Donald Trump’s constant battles with the media are affecting Trump’s approval rating today. The New York Times is a frequent subject of his attacks, but he has also called CNN and Buzzfeed “fake news” in briefings publicly, and also slammed Washington Post as well as any other outlet who shines light on Trump’s failings.

The public doesn’t like that. Public Policy Polling shows that the majority of the public sides with the media over Trump giving the media a 52 percent credibility rating to Trump’s 37 percent credibility rating. Voters also said that “Saturday Night Live” has a higher credibility rating than the president and Kellyanne Conway.

Watch Kellyanne Conway’s interview with Fox News here where she plugged Ivanka Trump’s line.

All of this is good news for Democrats heading into Elections 2018, but it isn’t even all of the good news for Democrats. The Congressional Republicans are not off the hook with this Public Policy Polling which gives Democrats a lead on the upcoming Congressional ballot.

Democrats lead Republicans at 49 percent to 41 percent. House Speaker Paul Ryan has a 35 percent approval rating and House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has a 23 percent approval rating. In addition to Trump’s low approval rating today, Congress as a whole has a 16 percent approval rating today.

After Elections 2016 when polls predicted a win for Hillary Clinton, pending certain variables, Trump supporters typically do not believe polls that show Donald Trump in a bad light, calling them “fake news.” Trump supporters, and Trump himself, however historically do support polls that favor him.

Even so, this is not an election anymore and the public clearly has concerns about the new president, with Trump’s approval rating today not just being lower than previous presidents, but also being low enough to see Trump impeachment numbers climb. It puts Elections 2018 at risk for the Republicans.

[Feature Image by Jeff Chiu/AP Images]

Share this article: Trump Approval Rating Today Plummets, Support For Trump Impeachment Climbs
More from Inquisitr