While Democrats ramp up efforts to impeach President Donald Trump, a September Gallup poll and new Harris poll may give them pause as his approval rating skyrockets.
A Harris poll released today shows that the President’s approval rating has shot up to 49% even after impeachment attempts. Republicans are now joined by a majority of Independents now supporting the President. Support for Trump among Democrats remains low but has also ticked up after impeachment efforts were announced.
A previous poll, released in September, already showed the approval rating of President Trump and former President Barack Obama are virtually the same at that point in their presidencies. Comparing President Barack Obama’s and President Donald Trump’s approval ratings in relation to the time they’ve been in office, both come pretty close of each other in their third year. According to Gallup, Obama’s approval rating was 40 percent at the end of August 2011, while Trump’s was 40 percent at the same time of year in 2019. In September, both presidents’ 33rd month in office, Trump’s approval rating initially rose to 43 percent, while Obama’s rose very slightly to 41 percent.
With the new polling, Trump’s numbers would rival those of America’s most popular presidents of the last half-Century at this point in their presidencies.
Today’s poll has political commentators reeling after wall-to-wall negative reporting on the President and impeachment efforts have only increased Trump’s popularity.
Democrats have admitted publicly, and on camera, that the goal of impeachment is to prevent Trump from being re-elected which according to polls looks likely.
This chart shows the development of approval ratings for U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump from the start of their first term in office.
Similarly giving Democrats pause, President Trump’s current approval rating is higher than all presidents at their lowest points for the last 65 years with the exception of Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy.