In polarised America, 41% of Americans have favourable view of Trump, poll finds

Deepening polarisation evident as fewer Democrats view the US president-elect favourably; Biden's December approval rating at 38%

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By Reuters

Published: Wed 18 Dec 2024, 2:28 PM

About two in five Americans view US president-elect Donald Trump favourably, fewer than when the Republican was on the cusp of his first presidential term, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

Some 41 per cent of respondents in the three-day poll, which closed on Sunday, said they viewed Trump favourably, while 55 per cent viewed him unfavourably as his January 20 inauguration approached.

That was down from Trump's 51 per cent favourability rating in December 2016 after his stunning victory in that year's election, even though for months he had garnered ratings around 40 per cent. The post-election boost carried into the initial months of his 2017-2021 term.

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The absence of a bounce this year — his favourability ratings have hovered around 40 per cent in recent months — could be a sign of deepening political polarisation between Republicans and Democrats. In December 2016, about a quarter of Democrats viewed Trump favourably. This month, only about one in 10 did so.

Early in Trump's first term, his presidential job approval ratings reached a high of 48 per cent in Reuters/Ipsos surveys conducted between February and April of 2017.

By mid-2017, amid accusations that Trump mishandled classified documents and pressured a top law enforcement official to stop probing his campaign's alleged ties to Russia, the Republican's approval ratings fell to around 40 per cent and largely stayed there for the rest of his term.

Current President Joe Biden entered office in 2021 with a 55 per cent approval rating but the Democrat's popularity has also slipped, hovering close to 40 per cent since early 2022 following a chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan and as consumer prices surged.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Sunday showed approval of Biden at 38 per cent, just above the lowest level of his term, 35 per cent, in October.

Trump's lowest approval rating during his first presidential term was 33 per cent in December 2017.

The latest poll, conducted online and nationwide, gathered responses from 1,031 US, with a margin of error of about 3 percentage points.

Reuters

Published: Wed 18 Dec 2024, 2:28 PM

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