An ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Sunday found that President Donald Trump only had 42% approval from Americans, the lowest since 1945 — but that 96% of Trump supporters say that they would vote for him again. Moreover, the poll indicates that Trump could win the popular vote if the 2016 electorate were to vote a second time.
The poll comes as Trump looks to finish his first 100 days later this week on a high note, with new legislative initiatives on tax reform and health care. Unlike his predecessors, Trump had no “honeymoon,” with the media and the Demcoratic opposition — a.k.a. “Resistance” — determined to maintain a bitter antagonism from the very first day.
But the “resistance” has its own major problems. Two-thirds (67%) of Americans say that Democrats are out of touch with their concerns, while 62% say the same about Republicans and 58% say that about President Trump himself.
Americans also support Trump’s approach to foreign policy, with a plurality saying that he is dealing with North Korea correctly and a majority approving of the recent missile strikes in Syria.
But it is with his own supporters that Trump is strongest:
As noted, this poll finds no evidence of buyer’s remorse among Trump supporters. Among those who report having voted for him in November, 96 percent today say it was the right thing to do; a mere 2 percent regret it. And if a rerun of the election were held today, the poll indicates even the possibility of a Trump victory in the popular vote among 2016 voters.
Trump might win a second version of the 2016 election because while 96% of Trump supporters would vote for him again, only 85% of Hillary Clinton voters say they would do so, “producing a 40-43 percent Clinton-Trump result in this hypothetical re-do among self-reported 2016 voters,” the poll says. Other former Clinton voters would support a third party instead.
The poll was conducted by land and cellular phone among 1,004 adults, with a margin of error of 3.5%.
Another poll, conducted by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, found that 54% of American adults disapprove of the job President Trump is doing, while only 40% approve, a 14-point gap that has increased by 4 points since February.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.