President Trump’s approval ratings have fallen during his first six months in the White House and is the lowest of any chief executive since Gerald Ford in 1975, according to a poll released on Sunday.
Only 36 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, a 6 percent slide since his administration hit the 100-day mark in April, a Washington Post/ABC News poll showed. His disapproval rating hit 58 percent – an increase of 5 percentage points.
President Ford’s approval rating after six months was at 39 percent in February 1975.
Trump wasted little time on Sunday to take to Twitter and blast the poll for being inaccurate.
“The ABC/Washington Post Poll, even though almost 40% is not bad at this time, was just about the most inaccurate poll around election time!,” he wrote.
He was referring to the survey from last November that showed Hillary Clinton up by 49 percent to 46 percent.
Trump won the electoral college, but Clinton took the popular vote by a 48 percent to 46 percent margin.
Trump is bedeviled by the Russian investigation, including his son Donald Trump Jr.’s involvement, his relationship with President Vladimir Putin and his controversial encounters with world leaders during his overseas visits.
Asked about US leadership on the world stage under Trump, 48 percent said it has gotten “weaker,” 27 percent said it is “stronger” and 23 percent said it is the “same.”
Sixty-six percent of those surveyed said they don’t trust him to negotiate with world leaders or with Putin, who the US intelligence community said directed the hacking into the 2016 presidential election.
On that matter, 60 percent of Americans think Russia tried to influence the election – up from 56 percent in April – and 67 percent think Trump campaign members “intentionally” helped Russia meddle – down from 71 percent since April.
Sixty-three percent said it was “inappropriate” for Trump Jr., former campaign manager Paul Manafort and son-in-law Jared Kushner to meet with a Russian lawyer last June. Another 26 percent said it was “appropriate” and 10 percent had “no opinion.”
On Trump’s campaign pledge to repeal and replace ObamaCare, the poll shows 50 percent “prefer” former President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, 24 percent “prefer” the Republican plan and 17 percent opt for “neither/something else.”
Asked “what’s more important for the federal government to do” on health care, 63 percent said “provide coverage for low-income Americans,” and 27 percent said “cut taxes.”
The poll surveyed 1,0001 adults via cell phones and landlines between July 10-13. It has a 3.5 percentage point margin of error.
