As Donald Trump continues to crumble under the weight of the ongoing Russia investigation, as well as his stalled legislative agenda, he took to Twitter on Monday to retweet a junk poll released last week that showed his approval rating at 50 percent.
Polls showing the president this close to a majority approval rating are impossible to come by because they don’t exist, so it’s no surprise that the insecure Trump would lean on an outlier survey from a Republican-leaning pollster.
Here’s the tweet Trump retweeted a short time ago, from – who else? – Fox News:
New Poll Shows @POTUS Approval at 50 Percenthttps://t.co/FRWlSVvxzQ
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— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 18, 2017
The poll referenced in the original tweets was taken by Rasmussen Reports, a GOP-leaning pollster that consistently shows Trump’s approval rating higher than it really is.
Not only does Rasmussen have a clear slant toward the GOP president, but the poll referenced in Trump’s retweet is from last week. The same survey released from the organization on Monday shows Trump’s approval rating back under water – with 48 percent of the country approving of his performance, while 52 percent disapprove.
Contrast that with today’s Gallup poll showing Trump’s approval rating at a much more believable 38 percent, and the RealClearPolitics average showing the number at 40 percent.
With no legislative accomplishments to speak of and an administration plagued by scandals and criminal investigations, it’s no wonder the president would try to milk the results of a junk poll.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
