The numbers among women who were polled are even more telling.
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Trump’s approval ratings for handling his presidential transition are slightly higher than his favorable ratings and may be a better measure of his performance to date.
The poll found that only 44 percent of Americans believe that Trump is qualified to be president, compared with 52 percent who say he is not.
Most modern presidents have ascended to the office with high approval ratings, occasionally marking the zenith of their popularity as political figures.
That assessment of Obama’s presidency, as well as his approval ratings, are marked by sharp partisan divides.
Similarly, there’s been a sharp turnaround in impressions of the economy under Obama.
“People are puring into Washington in record numbers”. That’s similar to the 37 percent favorable in a recent Quinnipiac University poll. In comparison, 39 percent chose the “very poor” option.
Moreover, just 18 percent of Americans disapproved of Obama this time eight years ago. The statistics show he has only been outranked by two other recent presidents: Bill Clinton’s 66 percent in January 2001 and Ronald Reagan’s 64 percent in January 1989.
Conversely, economic confidence stood at a relatively low -11 points shortly before the most recent presidential election, indicating a almost +20 point upward swing over the past two and a half months. Even the relatively unpopular George W. Bush received 72 percent approval of his transition, according to the ABC-Washington Post data.
Obama had a 95 percent rating among Democrats and Clinton had a 92 percent rating among fellow Democrats.
70 percent of Black Americans think Trump’s presidency will lead to a more divided nation. These results land far behind George H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama, who all landed in the 70-80% range for the same poll.
Americans have been pessimistic about the country’s future for much of the past four decades, and Obama’s hope-centered campaign aimed to counter this long-running pessimism.
Americans are also sharply split about whether Mr. Trump’s policies will be beneficial for the direction of the country.
Such a move could help drive up his approval ratings.
The billionaire’s cabinet choices were also not popular – they also trailed by 19 – 26 percent.
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And just three-in-10 Americans have a high level of confidence that Trump has the right set of goals and priorities, as well as right set of personal characteristics, to be president. Twenty-two percent of Democrats voiced satisfaction, compared with 38 percent of independents and 76 percent of Republicans.
