Donald Trump's approval rating lowest since taking office, Marist Poll shows

Abbott Brant | Poughkeepsie Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Marist Poll video: Trump's approval rating lowest since taking office President Donald Trump’s approval rating is at its lowest since he has taken office, with only 35 percent of Americans giving him a positive rating, according to a new Marist Poll released Wednesday. Abbott Brant/Poughkeepsie Journal

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — President Trump’s approval rating is at its lowest since he took office with only 35% of Americans giving him a positive rating, according to a Marist Poll released Wednesday.

Although he is still popular among Republicans, his key constituency, his job performance rating has dropped among strong Republicans from 91% in June to 79% now.

The poll was conducted Aug. 8 through Saturday, the day Heather Heyer, 32, of Charlottesville, Va., was killed as she walked away from a protest of the Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.

► Wednesday: Majority believe response to Charlottesville wasn't strong enough

► Aug. 10: 52% of GOP voters would support postponing 2020 election

In the first of three days of remarks on the violence, Trump that day disavowed hate but did not condemn the far-right-wing groups that had gathered to protest the removal of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's statue from a city park:

We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides. On many sides. It's been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. This has been going on for a long, long time.

A majority, 62%, of the 1,009 U.S. residents polled in English via mobile phone and landline think Trump’s decisions overall have weakened the role of the United States on the world stage. But his perceived impact on the economy is almost split, with 44% of Americans believing the U.S. economy has been strengthened because of the president's decisions and a 46% feeling it has been weakened, within the polls overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

► Aug. 8: New Hampshire primary voters likely to pick John Kasich over Trump

► Aug. 4: Americans in battleground districts oppose Trump firing special counsel

“While Republicans are still largely in Trump’s corner, the cautionary tale for the president lies in the softening of support at his base,” said Lee M. Miringoff, director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. Since his numbers among Democrats and independents are weak, a crack among his most ardent supporters is something Trump can ill afford.”

According to the poll, 60% of Americans do not believe Trump is honest and trustworthy while 37% think he is. Among residents nationally, 75% consider Trump to be temperamental while 21% said he is level headed.

Americans also have strong feelings about the president’s Twitter presence: 72% believe his Twitter communication “is reckless and distracting”; 20% consider it effective and informative.

► Aug. 2: President Trump's job approval sinks to 33% in Quinnipiac poll

► July 24: Americans split 42% to 42% on impeaching Trump, poll shows

When it comes to Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” only 36% of Americans say the president is winning compared with 59% who characterize him as losing. Republicans, 75% of them, believe the president is making good on this campaign promise, compared to 10% of Democrats, according to the poll.

“In light of the difficulty President Trump has had with Congress and the series of controversies and distractions he has had advancing his agenda, it is not surprising that, in the view of Americans, the president has been unable to put together a winning streak,” Miringoff said.

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