Mueller’s Approval Rating Beats Trump’s Despite Continued Attacks Against Investigation
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s approval rating easily beats President Donald Trump’s despite the president’s continued attacks against the Russia investigation.
According to a new poll from The Economist and YouGov, Mueller had a net approval of 7 percentage points. Trump, by contrast, had a negative net approval rating of -5 percentage points. The survey from The Economist/YouGov surveyed 1,500 U.S. adults from December 2 through December 4. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
43 percent of the survey’s participants said that they approve of the president’s overall job performance. Although 38 percent said the same about Mueller’s overall job performance, a significant amount––30 percent––said they were “not sure” what to think about it. That’s to be expected, considering that much of the special counsel’s work goes on away from public view and the investigation’s final result is still unknown.
The president’s disapproval rating stands at 48 percent while Mueller’s stands at 31 percent. This gulf ultimately contributed to the special counsel’s net-positive approval rating.
Yesterday, Trump insisted that “The Witch Hunt” must end, shortly after welcoming a report that said his son, Donald Trump Jr., did not talk with him on a blocked phone number before and after a meeting at Trump Tower between Trump campaign officials and Russians linked to the Kremlin. Trump Jr. had attended the meeting hoping to obtain compromising information about Hillary Clinton, his father’s Democratic opponent in the 2016 presidential election.
This Witch Hunt must end! https://t.co/3og7H4uUw2
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2019
Just out: The big deal, very mysterious Don jr telephone calls, after the innocent Trump Tower meeting, that the media & Dems said were made to his father (me), were just conclusively found NOT to be made to me. They were made to friends & business associates of Don. Really sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2019
Trump also told The New York Times in an interview that he is not a subject” or “target” in the special counsel’s investigation, a claim he made after distancing himself from his associate Roger Stone, who was arrested by federal agents last week for his activities with Wikileaks.