Trump's net approval rating is worse than Nixon's during Watergate

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

published 5 June 2017

President Trump's Gallup daily approval rating on Sunday was just 36 percent, even worse than former President Richard Nixon's rating of 39 percent in July 1973, when he refused to turn over the infamous White House tapes. Nixon's approval rating didn't hit a low of 36 percent until mid-August, as the Watergate scandal heightened, and at that point he only had a net differential of minus-18, The New York Times reports.

As of Sunday, Trump's differential was actually even steeper than Nixon's, at minus-22:

Trump's approval rating hasn't been higher than 43 percent since April 28. At 36 percent, he is just one point away from his lowest job approval rating ever, 35 percent, which he hit March 28.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

At this same point in their respective presidencies, President Barack Obama was tracking at an approval rating of 61 percent, President George W. Bush at 55 percent, and Bill Clinton at 37 percent, CNN reports.

Explore More

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.