Trump's Republican support hits record high despite mainstream media scorn

RT
Mon, 23 Jul 2018 13:59 UTC

© Joshua Roberts / Reuters

US President Donald Trump's approval rating among fellow GOP voters has soared through the roof, reaching 88 percent for the first time in his tenure. The three-day poll was conducted both before and after the Helsinki summit.

The newly released poll by NBC News/Wall Street Journal has found that controversies in recent months, including the enforcement and subsequent reversal of the "zero tolerance" immigration policy at the border, as well as Russiagate, have done nothing to erode support for Trump among his electoral base.

© NBC News/Wall Street Journal

On the contrary, Trump's overall approval rating among Republicans has climbed higher than ever before in his presidency, reaching 88 percent, according to the poll that was conducted between July 15-18. Of the 88 percent, 64 percent told pollsters that they "strongly approve" of Trump's actions, while another 24 percent said they "somewhat approve" of the president.

Trump perpetually fails to win support from the majority of voters, with 45 percent of respondents approving of his performance, compared to 52 percent expressing disapproval, according to the July poll. However, he has still managed to set another record high. It is the first time that the number of those expressing "strong approval" for the real estate mogul-turned president has hit 29 percent overall.

The poll notes that Trump's strongest point in the eyes of respondents is the economy, as the US president's performance in this area was positively assessed by half of the respondents. Despite media backlash following the historic Singapore summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, 44 percent of Americans still back Trump's efforts to ensure North Korea completely phases out its nuclear weapons program.

© NBC News/Wall Street Journal

The US relationship with Moscow was the issue on which Trump scored least well, according to the poll, which shows that only 26 percent of the respondents approve of his Russia policy.

However, it is the treatment of migrant families at the border that invoked the most resounding criticism, with 58 percent expressing disapproval of the policy that saw migrant families being separated at the border. By comparison, 51 percent disproved of Trump's approach to Russia.

It is unclear whether or how the figures were affected by the Helsinki summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, as this meeting took place on July 16 - right in the middle of the three-day poll.

Comment: The Daily Caller adds:

MSNBC left Washington, D.C., and went out to Kenosha County, Wisconsin, to interview President Trump supporters about their thoughts on Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a clip that aired on Wednesday morning.

"Well, he did get some Republican backlash, and I think they just didn't hear the whole story before they started coming after him. So he was trying to appease them a little bit," John Poole, a Trump supporter said.

"I'm totally in support of him. He's an entrepreneur, he's a business man, working class person's president. He's trying to make this country great again," another supporter stated.

NBC correspondent Morgan Radford spoke to a handful of people in the clip, and they all shared their support and love for the president.

Someone else added, "I'm not one bit worried about the rest of the world. They ain't worried about us."

Kenosha County went blue in 2012 and then went red during the last election.