Trump approval rating falls to new low after Capitol assault

President Trump’s approval rating has cratered after he incited a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, led by a dramatic drop in support among voters of his own party.

A new Pew Research Center poll released Friday found just 29 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing in office, by far the lowest rating he has received during his presidency. More than 2 in 3 Americans, 68 percent, disapprove of his handling of the job.

A majority of voters, 56 percent, say they very strongly disapprove of his job performance.

The rating makes Trump one of the least popular presidents of all time, a nadir comparable to the percentage of Americans who approved of Richard Nixon’s job performance when he resigned from office in disgrace. Just 26 percent of Americans said they approved of Nixon’s job performance when he left office in 1974.

The president’s decline comes almost entirely because of a drop in support among Republicans and those who lean toward the GOP. Just 60 percent of those voters approve of Trump’s job performance today, down from 77 percent in August. 

Voters deeply disapprove of the way Trump has conducted himself in the wake of the November election he lost to President-elect Joe Biden. More than 6 in 10 say his behavior after Election Day was poor, and almost half of those who say they voted for Trump called his behavior either poor or only fair.

And a clear majority, 52 percent, say Trump bears a lot of responsibility for the violence and destruction that took place at the Capitol last week. Just 24 percent absolve him of responsibility for the riotous mob that ransacked the building and threatened the lives of members of Congress.

The Pew Research Center poll is in line with other surveys out this week that show Trump’s job rating in free fall. An ABC News-Washington Post poll pegged Trump’s approval rating at 38 percent. A Quinnipiac poll out this week found 33 percent approved, and Reuters found 35 percent liked the job Trump is doing.

All three of those polls registered a decline since their last survey.

Two thirds of voters contacted by the ABC News and Washington Post pollsters said they believe Trump has acted irresponsibly in the days after the November election. Fifty-seven percent said Trump bore a great deal or a good amount of responsibility for the attack on the Capitol, and more than half — 54 percent — said Trump should be charged with inciting the riot.

Fifty-six percent of adults interviewed said Trump should be removed from office.

Americans, broadly speaking, are tired of Trump. Only 29 percent told Pew pollsters they want to see him continue as a major national political figure for many years to come — though that figure includes 57 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters.