Donald Trump’s Approval Ratings Sinks To Year-Long Low After Release Of Mueller Report
Donald Trump may have declared something of a victory after the release of a redacted version of the Russia report, but voters do not appear to take the same view.
The president’s approval rating fell to a low for 2019 after the report went public, sinking 3 percentage points according to a new Reuters/Ipsos public opinion poll. The poll was conducted entirely after the release of the report, surveying voters on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning and finding that Trump’s approval rating stands at 37 percent, falling from 40 percent in a similar poll conducted at the start of the week.
As the Reuters report noted, that number matches the lowest mark Trump has reached all year. Trump’s overall approval has now fallen 6 percentage points in less than a month, as he stood at 43 percent in the poll before Attorney General William Barr announced in March that the Mueller report had been turned in. Barr drew controversy for reporting that Trump was cleared on charges of collusion with Russia while the final report itself painted a murkier picture, outlining several contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia but falling short of calling it criminal collusion.
And while Trump has said the report vindicates him, the poll finds American voters largely do not agree. The poll found that 50 percent of voters agreed that Trump or someone from his campaign knowingly worked with Russia to influence the election, and 58 percent agreed that Trump tried to stop the Russia investigation.
Voters were more split on the idea of impeaching Donald Trump, with 40 percent saying he should be impeached and 42 percent saying he should not. The split sentiment appears to be the same among Democratic leaders, with some calling for impeachment hearings and others saying it would not be worth it.
Trump's approval drops 3 points in the immediate aftermath of Mueller https://t.co/s0QBCXaNZL
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) April 19, 2019
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who would have the most power in starting impeachment proceedings, has been reticent to push forward and said she would only do so if there were consensus among Democrats and Republicans that Trump should be impeached. The inconclusive nature of the report has led to a lack of push from Republicans on impeachment.
Some top Democrats have openly said that it is not worth trying to impeach Donald Trump. As Business Insider reported, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said it was “not worthwhile” to move forward on impeachment proceedings, noting that there is another election in 18 months and voters will get to decide.
