Trump’s Approval Rating On Handling Hurricanes Crashes By 20 Points After Puerto Rico Disaster

After Donald Trump responded to Hurricane Maria’s devastation by insulting the Puerto Rican people, picking a fight with the San Juan mayor and launching rolls of paper towels into a crowd like a human t-shirt cannon, his approval rating on managing hurricane response efforts has absolutely collapsed.

Surprise, surprise.

According to a new CNN poll, the president’s approval rating on managing these natural disasters has fallen by double-digits, putting him in negative territory.

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President Donald Trump’s approval rating for handling the federal government’s response to recent hurricanes has dropped 20 points in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

 

In mid-September, 64% of Americans said they approved of Trump’s handling of the US hurricane response. That finding followed his administration’s handling of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which hit the US mainland in late-August and September. Now, as many Puerto Ricans remain without access to clean water or electricity nearly a month after Maria hit, just 44% say they approve.

The finding from CNN is a clear indication that Trump’s Katrina-like handling of the devastation in Puerto Rico isn’t going unnoticed by the American people.

Worse is that much of Puerto Rico is still without power or drinking water – and Trump has shown very little enthusiasm to intensify relief efforts to help the millions of American citizens that live on the island.

Instead, in the few moments he does decide to pay attention to Puerto Rico, he either insults the Puerto Rican people for wanting everything done for them or scolds them for throwing the U.S. budget “out of whack.”

Mostly, though, the president prefers to rant about NFL players, lie about former President Obama, attack Hillary Clinton or whine about the “fake news,” instead of actually doing his job.

Sean Colarossi

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.