Plenty of time for a bounce in Biden's approval numbers.
Did you despair of Trump's record low approval for any president in the polling era?
POLITICS JANUARY 18, 2021
Last Trump Job Approval 34%; Average Is Record-Low 41%
BY JEFFREY M. JONES
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Last job approval rating of 34% is his lowest
Averages 41% job approval, four points lower than any other president
Approval ratings of Trump most politically polarized by wide margin
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As President Donald Trump prepares to leave the White House, 34% of Americans approve of the job he is doing as president, the worst evaluation of his presidency. His 41% average approval rating throughout his presidency is four points lower than for any of his predecessors in Gallup's polling era. Trump's ratings showed a record 81-percentage-point average gap between Republicans and Democrats -- 11 points wider than the prior record.
Trump Leaves on a Personal Low Note
The 34% job approval rating for Trump in Gallup's Jan. 4-15 poll is one point lower than his prior lowest single rating, registered on several occasions in late 2017. The first of these came in August 2017, as Trump was facing intense criticism over his unvarnished threats against North Korean aggression and his response to deadly violence by a white nationalist at a protest in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Between October and December of that year, his approval fell to 35% on three separate occasions as Justice Department officials charged several of Trump's 2016 campaign figures with crimes in the Russia investigation, including former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to officials in the investigation in December 2017.
Trump's approval high point was 49%, achieved on several occasions in early 2020 spanning the time between the Senate trial in his first impeachment and the initial stages of the coronavirus pandemic, when Americans were giving him high marks for his response to it.
His support fell below 40% in two June 2020 polls amid racial justice protests in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of police and growing displeasure with his handling of the pandemic. By the time of the 2020 election in which he sought a second term, his support had recovered somewhat, and 46% approved of the job Trump was doing.
Trump leaves office as the least-positively evaluated president in the Gallup polling era, based on the average of his approval ratings. He also just received his personal low approval rating, thanks largely to a sharp decline in public support during a lame-duck period marked by controversy, which could overshadow his accomplishments.
His final job approval rating of 34% is not the lowest among presidents, however, as that distinction goes to Harry Truman's 32% rating, while Trump is tied with Carter and George W. Bush for the second-lowest.
The significance of Trump's final rating could be more important than his average, as the former is the one that is often most predictive of how presidents are regarded historically.
Perhaps more than anything, Trump's public support will be remembered for its sharp degree of party polarization. His Republican base remained solidly behind him throughout. At no point in his presidency did less than 77% of Republicans approve of him. The low-water marks for other recent GOP presidents were significantly lower -- 67% for Reagan, 57% for George H.W. Bush and 55% for George W. Bush.
But more than any other president, Trump struggled to appeal beyond his base. That made it extremely challenging for him to win a second term, especially considering that fewer than one in three U.S. adults identify as Republicans and more independents lean to the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. As such, all of his job approval ratings were below the historical average, and none reached 50%.
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