Mar 11, 2018 - Politics & Policy
Fact-checking Trump's approval ratings tweet
- Erica Pandey, author of Axios Finish Line
President Trump tweeted that media reports that his approval ratings are lower than those of President Obama are "fake news." Here are the facts:
- RealClearPolitics' polling average places Trump's approval at 40.9%, significantly lower than Obama's approval (48.5%) at the same time during his presidency.
- Rasmussen Reports' latest numbers, from Friday, put Trump's approval rating at 44% — not "around 50%." Rasmussen, whose "likely voter" model tends to favor Republicans, also had Obama at 44% on the same day in 2010.
- The bottom line: Trump's numbers have ticked upward, and his current approval rating is higher than the low point of Obama's presidency (39.8% per RCP). But Trump's rating remains below the 48% that Obama averaged over 8 years, and far below the 57.2% rating he had when he left office.