Trump Will Be Sworn In as the Least Popular President in Four Decades, New Poll Says
When Donald Trump takes the oath of office in just a few short days, he will do so as the least popular president in at least 40 years, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll says.
According to the national poll, just 40 percent of Americans say they have a favorable impression of the president-elect. That’s 21 points lower than President Barack Obama’s departing favorability rating of 61 percent and easily the lowest popularity for an incoming president since 1977, ABC News reports. Trump trails behind former Presidents Obama (79 percent), Bill Clinton (68 percent), George H.W. Bush (65 percent), Ronald Reagan (58 percent) and Jimmy Carter (78 percent).
Even former President George W. Bush — who entered office after a bitter recount fight with Al Gore — was still more popular than Trump at inauguration time, with a 62 percent favorability rating.
George W. Bush, who i worked for, came into office with a cloud over his presidency. His net favorable was +20. Trump's is -14!.
— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) January 17, 2017
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Similarly, just 40 percent of Americans polled say they approve of the way Trump has handled the presidential transition. That’s half as many as the roughly 80 percent who approved of the way Obama, Clinton and George H.W. Bush handled their transitions.
On the eve of his inauguration, 52 percent of Americans see Trump as unqualified to be president, compared with 44 percent who say he is qualified. (That’s no vote of confidence, but it’s actually the lowest number of people saying he’s unqualified since he became a candidate.)
True to form, Trump isn’t buying any of it: on Tuesday he took to Twitter to attack the low opinion polling as “rigged.”
The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls. They are rigged just like before.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2017
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The new poll results come as hundreds of thousands of people are preparing to hit the streets of Washington, D.C., to protest the president-elect during his inaugural week, according to NBC News. The Women’s March on Washington — set to take place on Saturday, the day after Trump’s inauguration — is expected to be the largest protest, with hundreds of thousands predicted to participate in the nation’s capitol. Corresponding protests will also be held across the country.
People are pouring into Washington in record numbers. Bikers for Trump are on their way. It will be a great Thursday, Friday and Saturday!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2017
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The Department of Homeland Security is estimating an overall attendance of about 800,000 to 900,000 people, including protesters, for Trump’s inauguration. But — despite Trump’s claim of a “record” turnout — that estimate is significantly less than the 1.8 million attendees at Obama’s inauguration in 2009.
