I often see liberals on social media cite President Trump’s poll numbers as proof his reelection is doomed. While it’s true that Trump’s approval rating should be higher, that’s not his fault as much as it the media, which has been at least 90 percent negative towards him, despite the strong economy and other factors in his favor.

Despite the overwhelmingly negative coverage he’s experienced, his approval rating is actually better than Obama’s at the same point in his presidency. This isn’t one poll that says it either, it’s the Real Clear Politics average.

Trump’s approval rating on Wednesday was 44.3 percent, according to a Real Clear Politics average of more than a half-dozen major polls. That is higher than Obama’s average approval rating of 43.9 percent on September 18, 2011, by the same measure. The 45th president’s average approval rating surpassed that of his predecessor on Monday and stayed on top for the next two days. Trump’s average approval rating on Monday was 44.1 percent compared to Obama’s 43.9 percent on September 16, 2011, and 44 percent on Tuesday compared to Obama’s 43.8 percent on September 17, 2011.

This is actually not too surprising. In August 2011, Democrats were experiencing buyer’s remorse about Barack Obama, and many believed he would end up a one-termer. He wasn’t, unfortunately, but it’s clear that poll numbers more than a year before an election are not a great indicator of a president’s reelection chances. If they are, Trump is in an even stronger position to win reelection than Obama was.

#Winning

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Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis