Trump approval divides Democrats, Republicans like no president has before, poll finds

President Donald Trump’s approval rating has remained low through June, with 38% of Americans approving of his job performance as president, according to a new Gallup poll.

Trump’s approval rating dropped from 49% in May to 39% in early June, coinciding with the national protests over the death of George Floyd, an Black man who died in Minneapolis police custody.

Ninety-one percent of Republicans approve of Trump, compared to 2% of Democrats — the biggest partisan gap ever recorded for a president in a single poll, according to Gallup. In the May 28 to June 4 poll, 85% of Republicans approved of Trump, 39% of independents approved, and 5% of Democrats approved.

There was an 87-point gap between Republicans and Democrats in their approval of Trump in late January and February polls, coinciding with Trump’s Senate impeachment trial and acquittal.

The poll was conducted from June 8 to 30 with a sample of 1,016 adults in all U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Former presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter also had less than 40% approval rating in the June of their reelection years, according to Gallup.

Floyd, 46, died while in police custody on May 25 and his death sparked an avalanche of protests across the nation. He died after now-fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes, as three other officers didn’t intervene. The officers have since been criminally charged.