President Donald Trump’s approval ratings blew past former President Barack Obama’s first term numbers from April 2011, according to a Gallup poll published Monday.
Trump’s ratings reached 46 percent for the first time during his presidency, the poll noted. Gallup argued the higher numbers are likely a result of a strong economy and the Department of Justice’s decision to publish special counsel Robert Mueller’s report into Russian election meddling.
Department of Labor data released Friday showed the U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in April while the unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent, making March the 103rd straight month of job growth. Economists predicted 190,000 jobs would be added and the unemployment rate would hold at 3.8 percent. The unemployment rate hit a 50-year low, media reports show.
The president’s rating is higher than former President Barack Obama’s numbers by April 2011, when he enjoyed a 44-percent approval rating. The former president was dealing with conservative criticism of 2010’s Affordable Health Care Act at the time.
The poll, conducted between April 17 and 30, surveyed more than 1,000 people and has a margin of error of 4 percent. It also shows Trump’s approval rating among Republicans spiked at 91 percent. Democrats’ ratings of Trump increased as well, with 12 percent approving of the president. That number is higher than the 4 percent Democrat support he received a few months ago.
Gallup’s poll mirrored a Wall Street Journal survey published Sunday. Trump’s overall approval rating ticked up slightly to 46 percent in that poll. It also shows the same percentage of voters who disapprove of the president (51 percent) support his handling of the economy by the same margin. That’s a marked difference from 2017, when 44 percent expressed support for Trump’s economic stewardship.
Gallup and WSJ’s poll results come after a Washington Post survey published in April showed that only 30 percent of respondents planned to “definitely support” Trump come 2020. An additional 52 percent reported they would definitely not support him in any way, according to the poll.
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