Donald Trump’s approval rating has sunk to 35 percent, with a negative approval among men and white voters, bringing him below former President Barack Obama’s worst approval rating of 38 percent and approaching George W. Bush’s low of 28 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released April 4.
The latest job approval rating compares to a 37 percent approval rating in a March 22 survey by the independent Quinnipiac University.
Notably, President Trump is getting negative approval ratings among the key elements of his base — men disapprove by a margin of 51 to 39 percent and white voters disapprove 48 to 43 percent.
On the other hand, 79 percent of Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing as president.
Disapproval is at 63 percent among women, 91 percent among Democrats, 57 percent among independent voters and 77 percent among non-white voters.
When asked about specific aspects of his performance, American voters’ opinions of some of
Trump’s personal qualities are mostly negative:
- 61 of American voters said he is not honest;
- 55 percent said he does not have good leadership skills;
- 57 percent said he does not care about average Americans;
- 66 percent said he is not level-headed;
- 61 percent said he does not share their values.
The good is for Trump is that 64 percent of American voters said he is a strong person and 60 percent said he is intelligent.
“President Donald Trump continues to struggle, even among his most loyal supporters. Many of them would be hard pressed to see even a sliver of a silver lining in this troubling downward spiral,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
“President George W. Bush, who hit a negative 28 – 67 percent on May 14, 2008, had less support, but it took eight years, two unpopular wars and a staggering economy to get there.”
Perhaps the most telling number in this poll is the 52 percent of American voters who say they are “embarrassed” to have Trump as president. Only 27 percent say they are “proud” and 19 percent say they don’t feel either emotion.
On specific policy issues, 28 percent of American voters approve of the way President Trump is handling health care.
Opinions on other issues are:
- 61 percent disapprove of the way he is handling the environment; 29 percent approve;
- 48 percent disapprove of the way he is handling the economy, compared to 41 percent who approve;
- 58 percent disapprove of the way he is handling foreign policy; 33 percent approve;
- 49 percent disapprove of the way he is handling terrorism, while 42 percent approve;
- 57 percent disapprove of the way he is handling immigration issues, while 39 percent approve.
The poll of 1,171 American voters was conducted between March 30 and April 3. It has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.