President Trump’s approval rating fell 4 points this week after getting a brief uptick amid news of economic growth, according to a new American Barometer poll.
The survey, a joint project between Hill.TV and the HarrisX polling company, found that 47 percent of voters said they approved of Trump’s job as president when asked on Aug. 6 and 7.
That was below the 51 percent of respondents who said they approved of Trump’s job as president when asked the same question on Aug. 3 and 4.
The poll last week came on the heels of positive economic news for the administration, after the Labor Department announced on Aug. 3 that the 157,000 jobs were added to the economy.
Trump frequently boasts about the economic gains made during his presidency, crediting the congressional Republicans’ tax bill and his regulation policies.
However, Trump made news late on Friday when he hit basketball player LeBron James and CNN host Don Lemon in a tweet.
“Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!” Trump said.
Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2018
The president continued to make news on the platform on Sunday, confirming that a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya was aimed at getting dirt on then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, contradicting what Trump Jr. had previously said about the reason for the meeting.
Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2018
“I hear people in focus groups saying, ‘You know, I like some of the things he’s done, but he’s got to get off the Twitter.’ It’s just a complete distraction for him,” Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha on “What America’s Thinking.”
The first American Barometer poll was conducted on Aug. 3 and 4 among 1,021 registered voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.07 percentage points.
The second poll was conducted on Aug. 6 and 7 among 1,000 registered voters. The survey has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
— Julia Manchester
hilltv copyright