Both the media and courts are more trusted than the president, according to recent polling
For those progressives in a daze this morning, following what amounts to a devastating by-election defeat for Labour in Copeland, some sort of good news can be found in the US of all places.
New polling — or fake news as the White House would call it — shows that the majority of Americans back the media and the courts over Donald Trump.
The data, compiled by Quinnipiac University finds that 61 per cent of voters disapprove of the way that President Trump talks about the media, compared to 37 per cent who approve of it.
More encouragingly still, 52 per cent of respondents said that they trust the media, more than Trump to tell the truth about important issue. 37 per cent believed Donald Trump more.
Of those questioned, 59 per cent approved of the decisions taken by the courts to block the President’s executive order on immigration, with 58 per cent saying they can trust U.S. courts to do what is right ‘almost all of the time’ or ‘most of the time’, and 40 percent think they can trust the courts to do what is right ‘some of the time’ or ‘hardly ever’.
In contrast, 38 per cent of the voters questioned said that they can trust Trump to do what is right ‘almost all of the time’ or ‘most of the time’, and 61 per cent think they can trust Trump to do what is right ‘some of the time’ or ‘hardly ever’.
All this is reflected in poor overall ratings of President Trump, with voters giving Trump a negative 38 per cent to 55 per cent job approval rating, his worst net score since he took office, down from a negative 42 per cent to 51 per cent approval rating in a Quinnipiac University national poll earlier this month.
58 per cent of voters said that Trump is doing more to divide the nation, compared to 36 per cent who say he is bringing it together.
Commenting on the finding, Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll said:
“President Donald Trump’s popularity is sinking like a rock.
“He gets slammed on honesty, empathy, level headedness and the ability to unite. And two of his strong points, leadership and intelligence, are sinking to new lows.
“This is a terrible survey one month in.”
Meanwhile, another poll by McClatchy-Marist is reporting that 58 per cent of American voters are embarrassed by Trump’s conduct in office, compared to just 33 per cent who say that his actions make them feel proud.
It finds also that 55 per cent of respondents do not consider him to be honest and trustworthy, and 54 per cent do not think the president is a good leader for the country.
Ed Jacobs is a contributing editor at Left Foot Forward
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