President Trump’s poll numbers are up, with the number of Americans who strongly approve of his job performance eclipsing those who strongly disapprove.
The tides turned this week, on one particular day that’s now etched in the nation’s history.
Rasmussen’s Daily Presidential Tracking Poll shows that on Thursday – as the the House moved articles of impeachment to the Senate – Trump’s Presidential Approval Index popped into positive territory for the first time since April.
Trump’s “+1” rating reflected the 40 percent of voters who strongly approved of his performance versus the 39 percent who strongly disapproved. Overall, 51 percent polled approved compared to 47 percent who disapproved.
Rasmussen Reports is the only nationally recognized daily presidential tracking poll, and the day to day results fluctuate significantly. On Friday, Trump’s index rating dipped back to -2.
But the longer term trends are also seemingly in Trump’s favor, and the numbers suggest he’s gaining support as Democrats attempt to force him from office.
“Despite his impeachment by House Democrats last month, the president earned a monthly job approval of 49% in December, up two points from November and just one point shy of his high for 2019 of 50% in April,” according to the pollster.
“In January of last year, Trump’s monthly job approval had fallen to 44%, its lowest level in a year. But it jumped five points to 49% in February following his well-received State of the Union speech, recapturing the high ground he held for most of 2018. Fifty percent still disapproved of the president’s job performance last month, but that was down two points from November.”
The Trump Approval Index was at zero on December 20 then went negative until Thursday. Before that, Trump’s approval was in negative territory dating back to April 9.
The poll involves telephone surveys with 500 likely voters every night and uses a three-day rolling average, with a margin of error of 2.5 percent.
The numbers from Rasmussen Reports seem to jibe with another survey released this week by The Hill-HarrisX that shows the majority of Americans do not want President Trump removed from office.
Of the 1,002 registered voters surveyed nationwide, 51 percent believed Trump should either be censured but not removed or not face any penalty for allegations of abuse and obstruction.
Forty-eight percent want him impeached and removed.
The biggest disparity was by party identification, with 80 percent of Democrats calling for impeachment and removal, compared to just 17 percent of Republicans and 42 percent of Independents, The Hill reports.
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