
Donald Trump declared himself America's "favorite" president, but his presidency is increasingly unpopular and most Americans would prefer a third term of President Obama.

Donald Trump has declared himself America's "favorite" president in a statement completely disconnected from the real world, where the vast majority of Americans remain opposed to his presidency.

Trump made the assertion in a tweet promoting Fox News, the quasi-official propaganda network of his administration. He called for a "contest" to determine which networks are "the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me)."

The childish tweet, designed to taunt CNN — which has given Trump and his surrogates and supporters hundreds of hours of airtime — is at odds with reality, like so much of what he says.


Trump is not only not America's "favorite" president, but America has never liked Trump. Coming off an election where he lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes to Hillary Clinton, Trump was sworn in with an approval rating already under water.

He had an average approval of 44.3 percent, compared to President Barack Obama, who began with a 63 percent approval rating.

The more America has seen Trump in office, the more the country dislikes him. Over the first year of his presidency, Trump's disapproval rating has skyrocketed. It started out at 44.5 percent and now stands at 56.3 percent, and has been as high as 57.4 percent.

His failure to pass any signature legislation — combined with his embrace of racists, unethical business dealings and use of his office to enrich himself, along with a general sense of incompetence — has all contributed to the belief his presidency failed from the start.

The recent election in Virginia, where gubernatorial nominee Ed Gillespie ran on the Trump platform, was a repudiation of Trump and his Republican Party as Gillespie was resoundingly defeated by Democrat Ralph Northam. The Republican gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, Kim Guadagno, ran a Trump-style campaign and was defeated by 13 percent.

And his claim that he is America's "favorite" president? Most Americans have said that they prefer Obama, and it isn't even close. In a recent poll from Public Policy Polling, 52 percent of Americans said they wished Obama could have a third term instead of Trump's presidency.

Trump's tweet reflects the "fake news" universe of Fox News and Trump's own mind, but it doesn't bear any resemblance to the real world and his collapsing presidency.