To the Editor:
I see in the Letters to the Editor the selective use of poll numbers to support the writer’s position on Trump and his administration. However this person’s argument is illogical since the subject was Trump and his cabinet, yet the author used questionable polling numbers about Democrats. Evidently they have succumbed to Trump’s belief, as he recently tweeted, ”Any negative polls are fake news.” You can’t have it both ways, what makes the polls you reference true and polls critical of Trump false?
Here are few poll numbers to consider and even if some are off by a few percent, they show a definite trend toward Trump and his administration.
So Donald Trump enters the presidency with the lowest public approval (40%) of any president in the past 60 years, as well as the highest disapprove, at 45%. After one week his disapproval rose to 51%. Note, as he entered office, President Obama’s approval was 68 to 75%. Some 80% of British citizens think Trump will make a “bad president,” along with 77% of those polled in France and 78% in Germany.
A poll by PPP indicates that 62% of Americans do not believe that Trump’s inauguration had the largest crowd in history, whereas 18% agreed. Also 54% considered the women’s march as a larger crowd than Trump’s. In this poll, people were asked if they approve of a wall along the Mexican border if tax money is used and 53% said ‘no’ and only 34% approve. Should Trump release his tax returns 59%, yes. Should Trump divest himself of business interests, 61% yes. What is really significant about the poll results is the number of Trump voters who disagreed that Trump had the largest crowd in history, 34% yes, 32%, no.
A recently released poll shows that just 16% of Americans want Congress to repeal all of Obamacare, while 51% say it should repeal only parts and 30% say it shouldn’t repeal anything.
If the Obama administration was as bad as FOX claims, then why is Obama’s current public approval 60+% and Trumps is 35% and falling?
65% of Americans are very or somewhat concerned about Trump’s failure to identify his conflicts of interest. And 93% of Democrats have similar concerns.
Gallup polling indicates a dramatic difference in American’s perception of how other countries respect our current and past presidents. Obama ranks as 67% approval and 20% disapproval, whereas Trump’s approval is 29% and 67% disapproval.
A recent study by Morning Consult found that the majority of the people find the major media outlets are credible. At the top, ABC News was found credible by 67%, CBS by 65%, The New York Times by 63% and CNN by 60% of the public. In some surveys FOX news has a credibility ranking of around 25-30% that reflects Trump base.
Contrary to what many see in the conservative news, President Obama and his administration have more approval among Americans than Trump and his plans. (60% approval for Obama and 35% for Trump and more significantly 54% disapprove ). Mid-February, The Quinnipiac poll shows a severe partisan split — 83% of Republicans said they approve of Trump’s job performance, while 91% of Democrats disapprove.
39% of voters surveyed said their opinion of Trump is favorable, while 55% said their opinion of him is unfavorable. 55% of voters surveyed said they think he does not have good leadership skills, while 42% said they think he does. 55% said they think he is not honest, while 40% said they think he is. 63% said they think he is not level-headed, while 33% said they think he is. 58% said they think he is doing “more to divide the nation.” 38% said they could trust Trump to do what is right “almost all of the time.”
I challenge you to refute these poll results, however I will not accept data from FOX because they have been proven to not be reliable.
Barry McAlister
Village of Sunset Point
