Pollster Dan Cox said on Friday that views on former President George W. Bush’s management skills changed more after Hurricane Katrina more than views on President Trump’s management skills did after Hurricane Maria.
“If you look at the history of whether Republicans or Democrats more effectively manage the federal government, it swings back and forth a little bit,” Cox, research director at the Public Religion Research Institute, told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha on “What America’s Thinking.”
“It tends to be more negative when there’s a Democratic administration among Republicans and vice versa for Democrats,” he continued.
“The interesting thing is that if you look at the history for George W. Bush, like after [Hurricane] Katrina, views of his management dropped, and his approval dropped after that,” he said.
“During Hurricane Maria, where Trump was criticized for his response to that hurricane, views about his management haven’t really changed since that,” he said.
A Washington Post/ABC News survey conducted during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina found that Bush’s job approval plummeted to 42 percent during mid-September of 2005, while only 49 percent of Americans said he could be “trusted in a crisis,” which was down from 60 percent one year before.
Trump’s approval rating on his responses to hurricanes dropped 20 points after Hurricane Maria, according to a CNN poll.
A new American Barometer poll, conducted by Hill.TV and the HarrisX polling company found that 45 percent of Americans said they think Trump is a good manager.
— Julia Manchester
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