WASHINGTON (CNN) President Donald Trump's approval rating in a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS stands at 35%, down five points over the last month to match his lowest level yet.
The slide follows a January bump in approval for the President, a finding that appeared connected to a bullish stock market and strong reviews for the economy. His new rating matches a December poll, which marked his lowest approval rating in CNN polling since taking office in January 2017.
The President also earns his lowest rating yet among Republicans, though he is still viewed positively among his own partisans. Overall, 80% of self-identified Republicans say they approve of the President, one point below his previous low mark of 81%, hit in late September of last year. Just 13% of Republicans say they disapprove of the President's performance. Approval for the President stands at just 5% among Democrats and 35% among independents.
The findings follow several weeks of sharply negative news about the President's White House staff, including the revelation that several key staffers lacked permanent security clearance, the implementation of a new policy to handle interim security clearances, and news that multiple White House staffers had resigned following accusations of domestic abuse.
While the poll was in the field, much of the President's public agenda focused on gun laws, an area where the poll finds Trump earns mostly negative reviews. Just a third of Americans approve of his handling of gun policy, 54% disapprove and another 12% say they have yet to make up their minds. Those who live in gun-owning households give him higher ratings than others: 52% in gun households approve of his work on gun policy; it's 17% among all others.
Trekky0623 on February 25th, 2018 at 16:59 UTC »
This follows the standard pattern—when Trump does nothing, as was the case for several weeks before the school shooting, his approval goes up. But then he opens his mouth/posts on Twitter, everyone realizes what a shit he is, and it drops straight back down.
Saudade88 on February 25th, 2018 at 15:03 UTC »
What is causing this decline which now seems to have been picked up by quite a few outfits (AP/Gallup/Quinnipiac)?
Was it his response to the school shooting or has it been something else? I feel like his ratings were increasing towards 45.
tt12345x on February 25th, 2018 at 14:54 UTC »