Trump's approval rating sinks even further in a series of new polls
A series of new polls on Wednesday showed that the president is becoming even more unpopular following a series of setbacks including the defeat of Senate Republicans' proposed healthcare law and the departure of his chief of staff and yet another communications director.
A Quinnipiac University poll conducted between July 27 and August 1 and released on Wednesday showed the president had a 33% approval rating and a 61% disapproval rating. The telephone poll surveyed 1,125 voters, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
In a Politico/Morning Consult poll that was also released on Wednesday, Trump's approval rating dipped slightly to 42%, down one point from the 43% who said they approved last week, but within the plus or minus 2 percentage-point margin of error. The poll was conducted last week online among 1,972 registered voters before the firing of then-communications director Anthony Scaramucci.
Excluding the Politico/Morning Consult polls and the Quinnipiac survey, Trump had a net 37% approval rating and a net 57.5% disapproval rating, according to 538's approval tracker, which calculates the president's approval rating while factoring in the quality of the poll.
The president has repeatedly broken records for low approval ratings in his first several months in office, and hasn't appeared to experience the traditional honeymoon period many new presidents are afforded.
Trump's approval rating even dropped to a new low in his coveted Rasmussen tracking poll, which found that just 39% of likely US voters approved of the job he's doing, compared to 61% who disapproved. Trump has repeatedly praised the poll - which has been rated by polling analysts as less accurate than many of its peers - for its accuracy in instances where it has shown positive ratings.
In response to recent polls showing low performance, the president has resumed his time-tested campaign tactic of questioning the validity of the polls.