Forty-two percent of Americans questioned in a new Gallup survey approve of President Trump’s job as commander in chief, a slight improvement over a 38 percent reading during the month of June.
At the same time, an overwhelming percentage of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of race relations and the novel coronavirus, two issues at the center of the political debate less than three months until the November presidential election.
Only 37 percent approve of Trump’s handling of race relations, while 62 percent disapprove, and 36 percent approve of his response to the coronavirus, while 63 percent disapprove.
Approval of Trump’s response to the coronavirus has fallen steadily since March, when it was at a height of 60 percent as states started to shut down businesses in order to stop the spread of the virus. Coronavirus-related deaths topped 170,000 in the U.S. as of Monday.
Trump’s overall approval rating is higher than it was during the month of June, during which two surveys showed the figure below 40 percent. The latest survey was taken after Trump resumed semi-regular press briefings focused on the coronavirus, something that aides signaled could help him in the polls against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
According to the latest survey, more independents — 39 percent — now approve of Trump than in late June and early July, when 33 percent and 34 percent of independents, respectively, said they approved of the job he is doing as commander in chief.
Americans also remain extremely divided in their opinions of the president along ideological lines, with 90 percent of Republicans registering approval of Trump and only 5 percent of Democrats doing so.
The new poll showed that minority approved of Trump’s handling of all of the specific issues that Gallup surveyed. Forty-eight percent say they approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, which has been ravaged by the coronavirus, while 51 percent disapprove. Trump’s rating on the economy — a central focus of the president’s reelection campaign — has declined from 63 percent since January, before the coronavirus-induced recession.
The results come from a Gallup survey conducted from July 30 to Aug. 12 of 1,031 U.S. adults with a margin of error of 4 percentage points.