Despite His Extremely Low Ratings, Trump is 'Still More Popular Than Congress'

28.04.2017 12:25

Despite His Extremely Low Ratings, Trump is 'Still More Popular Than Congress'

Saturday is going to mark the 100th day in office of the 45th US President Donald Trump, who, according to recent polls, enjoys the lowest support in modern history. Social and foreign affairs scientists told Sputnik why the US leader's popularity is so low and what risks it poses to the country.

US President Donald Trump is approaching his hundredth day in office with the lowest ratings of any President in modern history. This is according to polls by ABC and the Washington Post released on Sunday.

The polls indicated that Trump’s approval rating stood at 42 percent, the lowest recorded at this stage of a presidency dating back to Dwight Eisenhower. In spite of this low score, the polls also suggested that almost all of those who supported him last year would do so again.

Only two per cent of self-reported voters said they regretted their decision. In contrast, only 85 percent of those who cast their vote for Clinton would back her again.

The difference in support signifies that in case of a hypothetical rematch Trump would still beat Clinton.

At the same time, the release showed that 67 percent of the respondents believe that the Democratic Party was out of touch with the concerns of most Americans. The corresponding number for the Republican Party was 62 percent.

Radio Sputnik discussed the issue with Thomas Whalen, an associate professor of social science at Boston University and author of “JFK and His Enemies: A Portrait of Power.”

"He is a victim of his own campaign rhetoric. He promised a lot and a lot of people, even his own supporters, now question whether he is actually delivering," he told Sputnik.

He cited as an example Trump's promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, revolutionizing the entire US national care system. He promised major tax reforms. He promised to bring back jobs to the "Rust Belt" states in Middle America. With regards to the legislation, he promised a huge infrastructure program. However it is going nowhere in Congress.

"His own party is his biggest obstacle. Given the majority the Republicans enjoy in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, it would be an easy task to push his program through. But it is just a sheer disappointment in terms that he has not followed through on his campaign rhetoric, "Whalen said.

Donald Trump won not as a Republican or a Democrat, he ran as an outsider, the social scientist further explained. And prior to Trump's ascendancy to the presidency, the country and the Congress have been in a state of political deadlock for over a decade. They wanted someone as president who would break this deadlock, who would get things done. Even though his ratings are low, they are still better than those of the Congress, those of the Democrats and Republicans in Congress, he said.

"It tells you a lot about the state of politics in the US. The system is broken. There is really not a lot of faith in our legislative process," he stated.

Commenting on why, in case of a hypothetical rematch, Trump would nonetheless win over Clinton, Whalen said that a lot of the Democratic party is just disappointed. They thought it was a "no lose " situation for Clinton, it would be an easy win.

Looking back retrospective they realize a lot of mistakes Hillary Clinton made, for example ignoring a huge swathe of working class voters in the Midwest, in the key swing states of Wisconsin and Michigan.

"The blame game has begun in the Democratic party now. That is why you see that a lot of Democrats would not vote for her now, they do not want to see a "Clinton revival," he said.

"In politics, winning cures everything, If you win, everyone supports you, it's the so-called "bandwagon effect." But if you lose in such a really close but really heartbreaking way that Hillary Clinton did, you are going to see a lot of people jump off that bandwagon very quick. And this is what is happening now," the social scientist explained.

The consequences of such low ratings may be disastrous, he suggested. It can lead to a total political breakdown where nothing gets done, where the US infrastructure gets even worse than it already is. The US right now is the largest economy in the world, he said, but China looks soon to surpass it, and there are a few other countries catching up too.

"Right now, due to the political deadlock, the US congress is refusing to fund the kind of R&D (research and development) that has made us the leader of the global economy since the end of World War II. I see the economic paralysis following the political paralysis in this country," he finally said.

In a separate comment on the issue, Director of Programs at the Russian Council for Foreign Affairs Ivan Timofeev spoke to Sputnik about the state of the US-Russian relationship which many thought would improve under Trump's presidency.

"There were certain reasonable hopes for Trump, because in the case of Clinton's victory, the window of opportunities for the development of US-Russian relations would have been shut. The hope for Trump was that it would be open a tiny crack," Timofeev said at a round table discussion at the International News Agency Rossiya Segodnya.

However there has been no improvement and in reality this was always going to be the case, he said.

It has not got worse nor has it become better, he stated.

Commenting on the style of Trump's presidency, the foreign affairs analyst noted that the US President has revealed a tough style of leadership.

"His missile attack on Syria demonstrated that he is ready for tough measures, making no bones about either his allies, Moscow or anyone else," he concluded.