The Democrats won a mandate to oppose Donald Trump’s extremist agenda. With Hillary Clinton’s historic popular vote lead quickly approaching 2.25 million, Trump has no mandate at all:

Trump's ratings lag behind those of other presidents-elect in large part because Democrats' views of him are much worse than the opposition party's supporters' ratings have been in the past. Whereas 10% of Democrats view Trump favorably, 25% of Republicans had a positive opinion of Clinton, 31% of Democrats had a positive opinion of Bush and 35% of Republicans viewed Obama favorably. Trump's favorable rating among independents, 39%, is also significantly worse than those of his predecessors. It is 15 points lower than Clinton's rating among independents and 31 points worse than Obama's. And Trump's 82% favorability among his party's supporters also is lower than that for prior presidents-elect, which range from 88% for Clinton to 95% for Obama.

The nation tends to rally behind presidents-elect, and even after the deeply divisive 2000 Rehnquist Court Florida debacle, George W. Bush by now had a net 23-point favorability rating. Trump’s numbers have improved, but likely mostly as a function of his voters wanting to feel good about their votes. Even so, his favorability rating remains below his popular vote percentage, and a net favorability of -13 is unheard of for a president-elect.

Despite President-elect Barack Obama’s soaring favorability ratings following his election, Republicans fought him every step of the way. Donald Trump is historically unpopular, and all who oppose him can take heart in knowing they are in the majority—and Democrats in Congress must represent that majority by fighting Trump’s extremist agenda.