Trump's Poll Numbers Hold Steady During Shutdown, Pelosi Became Less Popular
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that President Donald Trump’s job approval rating remained essentially unchanged during the partial government shutdown, while respondents having a “very negative” view of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi increased by 6 percentage points.
Trump’s approval rating stood at 43 percent in the poll that was conducted over a four day period, which ended on January 23.
That number is the same as recorded in a survey taken 10 days before the partial government shutdown began in December.
Twenty-nine percent said they strongly approved of Trump’s job performance, a 2 percent increase from last month. Forty-seven percent said they strongly disapproved, which is a 3 percent jump. Overall, Trump’s disapproval rating registered at 54 percent.
“Mr. Trump’s approval rating was steady even though more Americans blame the president than Congress for the shutdown, a change from past funding fights,” The Journal reported. “Mr. Trump bears responsibility for the funding lapse, according to 50% of respondents, compared with 37% who said Democrats in Congress were most to blame.”
Meanwhile, Pelosi’s overall approval rating also remained unchanged since before the shutdown at 28 percent. However, her disapproval rating increased from 41 to 47 percent.
Perhaps not surprisingly, 63 percent of respondents said the country was on the wrong track during the shutdown, up 7 percent from last month and the highest mark since December 2017.
Never thought I’d say this but I think @johnrobertsFox and @GillianHTurner @FoxNews have even less understanding of the Wall negotiations than the folks at FAKE NEWS CNN & NBC! Look to final results! Don’t know how my poll numbers are so good, especially up 19% with Hispanics?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2019
Trump tweeted on Sunday, “Never thought I’d say this but I think @johnrobertsFox and @GillianHTurner @FoxNews have even less understanding of the Wall negotiations than the folks at FAKE NEWS CNN & NBC! Look to final results! Don’t know how my poll numbers are so good, especially up 19% with Hispanics?”
It is unclear what Trump was referring to regarding FNC White House correspondent John Roberts, who was guest hosting on “Fox News Sunday” over the weekend and Fox News Washington correspondent Gillian Turner, who participated in a panel on the program.
Trump’s reference to a 19 percent increase in approval among Hispanics is based on a Marist/NPR/PBS News Hour poll.
PBS reported if he was comparing his current Hispanic approval to the group’s poll from a year ago, the president’s improvement is actually greater than he tweeted.
In January 2018, Marist/NPR/PBS had Trump with 27 approval among Latino respondents, and January 2019 that number jumped to 50 percent, which is actually a 23 percent increase.
Trump has continued pushing for the need to build additional barriers at the border, tweeting on Sunday a news story from NBC affiliate KOB out of Albuquerque.
Reporter Chis Ramirez demonstrated just how easy it is to cross the border in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, climbing right over it in a matter of seconds.
There is just a barbed-wire fence and vehicle barriers in some spots along the county’s 87-mile stretch of the border, which a group of ranchers interviewed for the story said is constantly being breached by illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.
BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL! pic.twitter.com/yDdCG5DCxn
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2019
“We have to get the word out that we have a crisis here,” one of the ranchers told KOB.
Trump announced on Friday at the White House his decision to reopen the federal government for three weeks to allow a bi-partisan group of lawmakers to negotiate over the issue of border security.
“So let me be very clear: We really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier,” he said. “If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on February 15th, again, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution of the United States to address this emergency. We will have great security.”
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