President Trump, over the course of his time in office, has frequently tweeted his own approval ratings. Often he’ll tweet an approval number in the 90s among Republicans or an overall approval rating that’s in the high 40s.
On Thursday morning, the president tweeted another opinion poll, in the form of a screenshot from Lou Dobbs’ Fox Business show. In the poll, depicted on Dobbs’ show as “Trump’s soaring approval,” Trump’s approval rating is listed at 55 percent overall and 58 percent on the economy. These numbers are attributed to “Georgetown Politics.”
That 55 percent figure is notably higher than Trump’s approval ratings typically are. That’s because it’s not the actual number.
As pointed out on Twitter by Karen Travers of ABC News, as well as others, the actual poll from Georgetown University’s Battleground 64 poll does not, in fact, show Trump with a 55 percent approval rating. While the 58 percent figure for the economy is correct, Trump’s overall approval rating is not what Dobbs’ show says it is.
The poll lists Trump with a job approval rating of 43 percent, with a disapproval rating of 52 percent. In a seperate question, 40 percent say they have a “favorable view” of the president, while 55 percent say unfavorable. It’s possible that someone with Dobbs’ show saw the 55 percent figure and misread it as the president’s approval rating.
Great news! #MAGA pic.twitter.com/haZ1HbVpNu
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2019
Even the director of Georgetown’s politics institute tweeted that the graphic was wrong. And Harry Enten, a politics forecaster, tweeted that no poll in over two years has listed Trump’s approval rating at as high as 55 percent.
Trump is likely a fan and admirer of Dobbs, who has railed against immigration on his cable news shows for nearly 20 years. And while speechwriter and adviser Stephen Miller is often seen as the architect of the president’s recent immigration push, it’s been alleged, including by The Observer , that Trump actually listens to Dobbs more than anyone else on immigration. Trump is known to get Dobbs’ council both from direct interactions and from watching his show.
At times, however, Dobbs has criticized the president for not going far enough on immigration. Per HuffPost, Dobbs ripped Trump last week for “not moving with urgency at all” on border security, specifically his declaration of a state of emergency. This may serve, Dobbs said, as a vulnerability when Trump runs for re-election in 2020. This came prior to the decision by Trump to accept the resignation of Kirstjen Nielsen as secretary of Homeland Security.
