Donald Trump knows that he is not doing a good job. After all, anyone who spends up to eight hours a day watching television cannot be too involved with the very serious job of being the leader of the free world. He would not spend so much time Twitter-reminding people what a great job he is doing, if he felt secure about it. All that taken together makes one wonder just how bad of a job he is doing. Fortunately, a New Gallup poll that just came out.
There were 295 presidential quarters when Gallup did its polls, way back to 1945. Taken all together, they showed that Trump ranked in the bottom 22 percent of all quarters for all presidents.
POTUS’ 10th quarter’s averages looked very bad compared to the other presidents. Among the 10 post-World War II presidents elected to their first term, four had approval ratings above the majority level, including Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush.
President Eisenhower averaged 69.3, Kennedy 67.7, Nixon 49.2 G.H.W. Bush 73.6, Clinton 49.3, G.W. Bush 64.0, Obama 46.8, and Trump 42.7.
Source: Gallup Poll.
Republicans approved of the job he had been doing 90 percent compared to the Democrats’ at eight percent. Just 35 percent of independents approve, making his chances of re-election “weak.”
Trump began his 10th quarter with a 46 percent job approval average, his highest rating yet. That was based upon strong economic news and the Attorney General William Barr’s comments on the Mueller Report.
At June’s end, the president’s rating dipped back to 40 percent after more accurate details about the Mueller Report emerged. Trump’s tariffs on China’s imported items did not help his job ratings either.
His latest job approval rating, from a July 1-12 survey, is 44%. That poll was conducted before the recent controversy over Trump’s remarks about four Democratic House members who are women of color, which led to the House passing a resolution (largely along party lines) that condemned Trump’s use of racist language.
Source: Gallup Poll.
Unlike the other presidents, Trump came into office when President Barack Obama had turned a failing U.S. economy and turned it into a very healthy stable economy. There was a 50-year low in unemployment, as well as solid economic growth and record stock values.
The poll predicted that Trump’s chances to increase economic gains were limited and were unlikely to improve unlike Presidents Reagon and Obama did.
George W. Bush had the lowest job approval rating for a president who won a second election, 48 percent when he was re-elected. Trump would need to reach at least that number to win a re-election
However, his quarterly averages have not varied much throughout his presidency, all registering within a narrow six-point range of 36.8% to 42.7%.
Keep in mind that the polls did not correctly predict who would win the 2016 election. They did not show a Trump win, and stunned Hillary Clinton as his success became obvious.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
