President Trump Hits Job Approval High

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Amid the monumental course of events that have transpired over the last two months President Donald Trump has been under the microscope like never before. And that’s saying something. With a nation plunged into crisis by an known virus and an uninhibited fear response, the response and performance of the federal government and the commander in chief is front and center. Despite whatever manufactured media hit against the president is currently en vogue, his job approval ratings among the American people just hit a high.

Gallup’s ‘Trump Job Approval’ rating, which updates weekly and tracks over time, shows the president above water at 49 percent approval, 47 percent disapproval. It’s the trend over time, though, that shows how much Americans may appreciate Trump’s performance during this crisis.

Over the course of Donald Trump’s first term, with the unprecedented offensive mounted against him by the media, pop culture influencers, and even his own government operators (Russia collusion anyone?), the president has sported approval/disapproval ratios reflective of the blitzkrieg. He’s been mostly underwater in this tracking poll for years, but over the last six months, and especially the last six weeks, the usual dichotomy has been thrown into flux as Trump gains confidence.

Over the last two weeks, Trump has surged six points in approval while his disapproval sank by seven points. Most of that climb came from the thumbs up of independents, with the report noting:

“Most of the variation in Trump’s recent job approval rating is among independents. In the current poll, 47% of independents approve of the job he is doing as president, the highest Gallup has measured for the group to date. 93% of Republicans and 8% of Democrats approve of the job Trump is doing.”

President Trump, having led a historic federal response in recent weeks, has been itching to open up the economy. This may pit him against governors that are intent on extending shutdown edicts, but it likely resonates with people around the country who are similarly squirming under the destructive social distancing restrictions.

A campaign press secretary said attributed the boost in confidence to Americans’ appreciation for the president’s brand of charging leadership when facing an uncertain enemy.

“Americans want to see their president out front and leading in a time of crisis, and that’s exactly what President Trump is doing. He understands these are challenging times for the American people, which is why he has left no stone unturned and unleashed an unprecedented, whole of America approach to defeat this virus.”

This is not welcome news for Democrats who may be half-hoping enthusiastically cheering for this crisis to be hung around Trump’s neck to sink his reelection chances. Once again, the president has maneuvered within the chaos to position himself in a stand by the side of the American people against both the virus and the overzealous, economy-crushing government response.

It’s quite a script change from the narrative Democrats hoped to write, where President Trump was bumbling and negligent in letting the virus out of China (He should have done more), while also being racist (He can’t discriminate against China).

Explore more poll results from Gallup here.