Trump’s Gallup approval rating drops a net minus nine in a week
The immigration clampdown is hurting him and possibly his party
We’ve now got the first Gallup approval ratings for the period entirely after the immigration clampdown that saw children being forcibly separated from their parents.
His approval number is down 4 points in a week to 41% while his disapproval jumped 5 points to 55%. This reflects the hammering he has been getting in the media and even from parts of his own family.
What made this particularly challenging for him were the TV pictures and sounds of the crying children on being taken away from their parents. It was a lot harder for the normal Trump response of “fake news” – the coverage made this heart-rending.
He has found it very hard in the past to deal with issues when the TV coverage, like on the size of the crowds on his inauguration didn’t match the spin.
The big question is the political impact in the run up to this November’s midterms particularly as it was beginning to look as though the Democrats hope of taking the house were looking less likely.