Poll: Obama approval at 53 percent amid IRS, Benghazi controversies

The same poll showed Obama's approval at 51 percent in early April

Published May 19, 2013 6:14PM (EDT)

A new CNN/ORC poll finds that despite the controversies surrounding the IRS and the attacks in Benghazi, President Obama still enjoys a 53 percent approval rating, up from 51 percent at the beginning of April.

45 percent now say they disapprove of the President.

From CNN:

"That two-point difference is well within the poll's sampling error, so it is a mistake to characterize it as a gain for the president," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Nonetheless, an approval rating that has not dropped and remains over 50% will probably be taken as good news by Democrats after the events of the last week."

The CNN poll is in-line with Gallup, which also indicated a very slight rise in Obama's approval rating over the same time period. And Gallup's daily tracking poll also indicated a slight upward movement of Obama's approval rating over the past week. But as with the CNN poll, it was within that survey's sampling error.

 


By Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com.

MORE FROM Jillian Rayfield


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Barack Obama Benghazi Irs Polling White House