Donald Trump's Mandate to Govern Is Laughable, a Gallup Poll Shows

Salon
and
 Grace Guarnieri
November 17, 2016

President-elect Donald Trump is becoming more popular, but the future commander-in-chief has a long way to go if he wants his favorability ratings to come close to his predecessors.

According to a Gallup poll released Thursday, 55 percent of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of  Trump in the days following the election, from Nov. 9 to Nov. 13.

His favorability rose 8 points after the election, from 34 percent to 42 percent. Gallup said that this could indicate an even further boost in favorability when Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2017. According to the report, Donald Trump’s favorability peaked around 2006 at 50 percent. Donald Trump’s lack of favorability is laughable when compared to favorability ratings of past president-elects. Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama were all more favorable than Trump by margins of 16, 17, and 26 points respectively. Trump before and after election:

After he was elected in 2008, President Obama’s favorability was 68 percent. President Obama’s highest approval rating during his presidency of 67 percent immediately followed his inauguration in 2009, whereas his lowest approval rating was 40 percent. President Bush’s highest approval rating was 90 percent, and that was following the events of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

If the favorability fluctuations of past presidents will reflect Trump’s favorability future, then Donald Trump has a lot of catching up to do. The only demographic with which Donald Trump enjoyed a clear majority of favorability was his own party.

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