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 on Thursday, 55 percent of Americans surveyed said they had an unfavorable opinion of Trump in a stretch immediately after the election, from Nov. 9 to Nov. 13.
Gallup finds Trump has the worst favorability of any president-elect in modern American history. pic.twitter.com/2D0tbiJuvF
— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) Nov. 17, 2016
Nonetheless, Trump's favorability rose 8 points in the days after the election as compared with the stretch right before it (Nov. 1 to Nov. 6), from 34 percent to 42 percent. Gallup said that this recent growth spurt could indicate that there will be an even further boost in favorability when Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2017. According to the report, Donald Trump's favorability rating peaked in 2006 at 50 percent.
Donald Trump's rating is laughable when compared with the favorability ratings of past president-elects. After their election Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama were all deemed more favorable than Trump by margins of 16, 17, and 26 points respectively.
Trump Favorability Up, but Trails Other Presidents-Elect... https://t.co/go1MZxaE2m pic.twitter.com/wXR3Xvjw56
— GallupNews (@GallupNews) Nov. 17, 2016
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 he has a lot of catching up to do. The only demographic with which Trump enjoyed a high favorability ratings was with members of his own party.
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