President-elect Donald Trump‘s approval rating during his transition to power is lower than any incoming president since 1992, according to a new Gallup poll.
Trump, who won the presidency with an Electoral College victory but lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton by over 2.8 million votes, has a transition approval rating of 48 percent and a matching disapproval rating. That’s 17 points lower than former President George W. Bush, who entered the White House with a transition approval rating of 65 percent, according to Gallup’s numbers.
Bill Clinton began his presidency in 1992 with a transition approval rating of 67 percent, while President Barack Obama launched into his first term with a 75 percent approval rating.
While Trump’s numbers are far higher among Republican voters (86 percent), that’s 7 percentage points lower than Bush (93 percent) but 3 percentage points higher than Clinton’s initial approval rating among Democrats (83 percent).
On average, Trump’s approval rating remains in the negative, according to Real Clear Politics, with an average favorability rating of just 42.9 percent and an unfavorable rating of 49.3 percent.
