Analysis: Trump figures that, except for the media, he’d be as popular as FDR post-World War II
By Philip Bump Philip Bump National correspondent focused largely on the numbers behind politics Email Bio Follow May 24 at 4:55 PM As he left the White House on Friday for his trip to Japan, President Trump was asked if he thought his approval rating would be higher without the various investigations into his administration and businesses that are underway.
He also cites a poll number — 48 percent — that appears to be a reference to his current approval rating in polling conducted by Rasmussen Reports, a pollster that has consistently determined that Trump’s presidency is more favorably viewed than other pollsters. How much so? On 587 of the 589 days in which Rasmussen polled and RealClearPolitics has generated an average of approval polls, Rasmussen’s value has been higher.
Let’s quickly dispatch with the “still winning the election”: In most recent polls, Trump trails nearly every possible Democratic challenger. In the past 50 years, though, only two presidents — the Bushes — have hit that level of support. George H.W. Bush topped 75 percent after orchestrating the liberation of Kuwait. His son saw his approval spike after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. That was it.
So what? Well, when Eisenhower was topping 75 percent approval in the post-World War II economic expansion, the lowest approval he saw from Democrats was 28 percent. Trump hasn’t gotten half that much support. Trump’s suggesting, though, that the media should only report favorably on him . If they did, he claims, he would hit that 75 percent.
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