60 pc of Americans disapprove of Trump job performance: poll

Published August 31, 2018
US President Donald Trump makes his way to board Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on August 31, 2018. —AFP
US President Donald Trump makes his way to board Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on August 31, 2018. —AFP

Sixty percent of Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump's job performance and nearly half support impeachment, according to an opinion poll published on Friday.

Thirty-six per cent of Americans approve of Trump's White House performance, the Washington Post-ABC News poll found.

In the last Post-ABC survey, in April, Trump received an approval rating of 40 per cent and a disapproval rating of 56 per cent.

The latest survey of 1,003 adults was conducted between August 26 and 29, the week when Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty of tax and bank fraud and his attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to making hush payments to women who claimed to have had sexual liaisons with Trump.

Forty-nine per cent of those polled by the Post and ABC News said that Congress should launch impeachment proceedings against Trump, while 46 per cent disagreed.

Fifty-three per cent said they believed Trump has committed obstruction of justice by trying to interfere with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into whether the Trump election campaign colluded with Russia.

Thirty-five per cent said they do not believe the president has sought to interfere. Trump has denounced the ongoing probe as a political “witch hunt.”

Sixty-three per cent of those surveyed said they support Mueller's investigation while 29 per cent said they oppose it.

Trump's ratings are better when it comes to handling the economy, the Post-ABC poll found. Forty-five per cent approved of his handling of the economy while 45 per cent disapproved.

Republicans and Democrats differ sharply when it comes to Trump's popularity.

Seventy-eight per cent of Republicans approve of the Republican president's performance while 93 per cent of Democrats and 59 per cent of independents disapprove.

The poll has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

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