# Trump has lowest approval ratings of any \[new\] president in history of polling **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 25, 2017, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107 "2017-01-25T01:55:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/1 "2017-01-25T01:55:41Z")
[At a 45% approval rating](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/3-days-into-trumps-presidency-45-percent-of-americans-disapprove-of-his-performance/), Trump is the first president in the history of polling to have approval ratings below 50%. Just to be clear, it’s not even close. Compared to Trump’s 45% disapproval rating, the next lowest is George W Bush at 25%. The majority of presidents had disapproval ratings in the single digits. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/2 "2017-01-25T02:01:59Z")
You messed up the lead. It’s the lowest for a new president, not the lowest ever. Plenty of presidents hit below 50% at some point in their tenure, including Obama. And Obama has hit higher than 50% in disapproval, too. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/3 "2017-01-25T02:03:39Z")
That chart is hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/4 "2017-01-25T02:05:05Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > That chart is hilarious. Those are some pretty amazing numbers, though, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/5 "2017-01-25T02:10:59Z")
Here it says its 57% > **[Daily Presidential Tracking Poll](https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/biden_administration/prez_track_apr14)** > > The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll, sponsored by Matt Palumbo's MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN, for Friday shows... ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/6 "2017-01-25T02:24:28Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Here it says its 57% > > [http://m.rasmussenreports.com/public\_content/politics/trump\_administration/prez\_track\_jan24](http://m.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/trump_administration/prez_track_jan24) One difference between the two is that the Rasmussen one appears to ask the question in a way, or group the answers in a way, where the total adds up to 100%, i.e., they have 57% approve and 43% disapprove. The Gallup poll has 45% approve and 45% disapprove (so ~10% must be undecided or neutral). So, there’s still some discrepancy between the two polls but not as much as there appears to be when you look only at percent that approve. At any rate, even if you believe Rasmussen’s numbers, you get +14% for the Donald, which still puts him at a record low value for a new President. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/7 "2017-01-25T02:34:27Z")
But his party controls congress and will be able to heavily influence the makeup of the SC. So the most dis-approved POTUS has far more power than most POTUS. What a situation. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/8 "2017-01-25T02:40:21Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You messed up the lead. It’s the lowest for a new president, not the lowest ever. Plenty of presidents hit below 50% at some point in their tenure, including Obama. And Obama has hit higher than 50% in disapproval, too. True, I was a little too eager to submit the post. Could a mod change the title to “…lowest approval ratings of any \*\*new \*\*president…”? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/9 "2017-01-25T03:58:19Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > True, I was a little too eager to submit the post. > > Could a mod change the title to “…lowest approval ratings of any \*\*new \*\*president…”? Fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/10 "2017-01-25T19:43:36Z")
Well, based on all the love he gets on these boards alone, that’s not surprising 😂. I think these are like poll numbers at election time no one really knows what the hell is going on. I take them like a grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/11 "2017-01-25T19:57:08Z")
IMHO, the reason for this is that he messed up the honeymoon period by ignoring the “one president at a time” tradition. He couldn’t shut his yap and wait until he was actually president to make proclamations about ongoing policies and happenings. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/12 "2017-01-25T20:00:43Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > One difference between the two is that the Rasmussen one appears to ask the question in a way, or group the answers in a way, where the total adds up to 100%, i.e., they have 57% approve and 43% disapprove. The Gallup poll has 45% approve and 45% disapprove (so ~10% must be undecided or neutral). > > So, there’s still some discrepancy between the two polls but not as much as there appears to be when you look only at percent that approve. At any rate, even if you believe Rasmussen’s numbers, you get +14% for the Donald, which still puts him at a record low value for a new President. I think the discrepancy is that in the Rasmussen poll, people may have misheard the question, so they thought they were being asked if they support trumpets. As in the horn. I’d say that 57% of Americans approve of that instrument, but certainly no more. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/13 "2017-01-25T20:18:31Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > IMHO, the reason for this is that he messed up the honeymoon period by ignoring the “one president at a time” tradition. He couldn’t shut his yap and wait until he was actually president to make proclamations about ongoing policies and happenings. Well, presidents-elect do tend to do and say stuff during their transitions - they don’t just pop their heads back up on January 20th and say “Surprise! Here’s my agenda!” But you have a point: his post-election speech and behavior has been unusually divisive and, I’d say, amateurish - and therefore uninspiring to those who were skeptical about his qualifications and temperament (including many Republican voters). We teach our kids good sportsmanship for a reason. (Well, most of us do.) ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/14 "2017-01-25T20:29:21Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > One difference between the two is that the Rasmussen one appears to ask the question in a way, or group the answers in a way, where the total adds up to 100%, i.e., they have 57% approve and 43% disapprove. The Gallup poll has 45% approve and 45% disapprove (so ~10% must be undecided or neutral). > > So, there’s still some discrepancy between the two polls but not as much as there appears to be when you look only at percent that approve. At any rate, even if you believe Rasmussen’s numbers, you get +14% for the Donald, which still puts him at a record low value for a new President. Rasmussen has also tended to skew more conservative than other mainstream polling companies: [Is Rasmussen Reports Biased? | FiveThirtyEight](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-rasmussen-reports-biased/) (As Silver points out, that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily WRONG in any particular case.) Anyway, it seems pretty obvious to me that evaluating approval is a squishy endeavor. For instance, I would have answered a “yes/no” question about approving of HRC’ the candidate with a “yes.” Asking me to rate her on a scale of 1-10 would have gotten a more nuanced picture. When looking at these approval ratings, what matters is comparing apples to apples. Trump is historically low in Gallup’s polling; assuming they’ve been consistent in methodology, this tells is something. I was t able to quickly find a comparable historical evaluation by Rasmussen, but if someone else can I’d love to see what it says. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/15 "2017-01-25T20:29:25Z")
Shocked I am the the winner in an election that featured record breaking disapproval of both candidates starts with low approval ratings. What’s next? Someone going to tell me that water is wet? There’s gambling at Rick’s? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/16 "2017-01-25T21:15:58Z")
That chart is rigged. Totally rigged. 0% net approval? That’s for losers. And, of course, those who are constantly the vicims of rigged systems. Gotta be rigged. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/17 "2017-01-25T21:30:47Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > One difference between the two is that the Rasmussen one appears to ask the question in a way, or group the answers in a way, where the total adds up to 100%, i.e., they have 57% approve and 43% disapprove. The Gallup poll has 45% approve and 45% disapprove (so ~10% must be undecided or neutral). > > So, there’s still some discrepancy between the two polls but not as much as there appears to be when you look only at percent that approve. At any rate, even if you believe Rasmussen’s numbers, you get +14% for the Donald, which still puts him at a record low value for a new President. It looks like Gallup asks “Favorable,” “Unfavorable,” and “No opinion” Rasmussen asks “Strongly Approve,” “Somewhat Approve,” “Somewhat Disapprove” and “Strongly Disapprove.” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/18 "2017-01-25T21:39:23Z")
Since the election is long over, and the OP neither sets forth a point to debate nor seeks an opinion poll, I am moving this to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/19 "2017-01-26T00:19:47Z")
And if Hillary had won, she’d be the record holder. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107/20 "2017-01-26T00:41:58Z")
Except Hillary didn’t win. The scary lady can’t hurt you anymore, OMG. Show us on the doll where she touched you. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-has-lowest-approval-ratings-of-any-new-president-in-history-of-polling/778107.md?page=2)