Trump dominated politics on L.A. TV news. A ‘sobering’ City Hall scandal changed that. But did the public care?
The Los Angeles Times has a new poll out, putting a little over 50 percent of voters, and 50 percent of those who are registered Democrats, in favor of Donald Trump’s candidacy, which is far lower than the 71 percent who said they favored Hillary Clinton four years ago.
The poll found the president, who won just 44 percent of the vote on Nov. 8, is up three points from this time last year.
Yet there’s good reason for skepticism.
While an improving economy and the economy as a whole have continued to put the president in the majority of voters’ minds, the controversy surrounding his former lawyer and his business dealings has given the public mixed feelings about Trump.
There are a few other factors affecting the poll and the results of its survey: About 15 percent of the sample in the poll said they support Libertarian Gary Johnson. Another 11 percent said they were undecided.
The poll found the president’s approval rating at 44 percent, which is higher than the 44 percent approval rating he had in January and March — but still lower than the approval rating of 50 percent he had in April and July of last year.
Despite all the bad news in the Trump administration and the White House, the poll found an overall 59 percent approval rating for the president, higher than the 51 percent he had in that same poll in January.
The poll also found that 60 percent of those polled said they had a moderate or liberal view of the president, compared with 42 percent who said they had a moderate or conservative view.
“It’s a sobering election,” poll co-director Patrick Murray said in an interview with the Times.
The president’s approval rating has been in decline since the days after the election, which made it even more remarkable
