New polling is out and Donald Trump will be shocked to learn that gassing and violently beating peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment wasn't as popular as Attorney General Bill Barr likely told him it would be.
Trump's approval plummeted fully seven points since last month in the new CNN/SSRS poll conducted June 2-5, entirely in the aftermath of Trump's disastrous photo op last Monday. Just 38% of Americans approve of the way he's handling his job, while 57% disapprove—a nearly 20-point gap. As CNN notes, Trump is resting comfortably right alongside where Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush at this point in their reelection bids. Keep on keeping on, Trump.
He is also running 14 points behind presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, 41%-55%. Both data points are significant, with Trump hitting his lowest point yet in CNN's head-to-head, while Biden notched his highest point in the poll to date. Ya love to see it.
Once more, support for the peaceful protests against police brutality in the wake of the murder of George Floyd is soaring, with 84% of Americans saying the protests are justified. That's a nearly 20-point jump from the fall of 2016, when 67% said they felt such demonstrations were justified.
And similar to polling by ABC News/Ispos late last week, respondents largely disapprove of Trump's handling of the murder of Floyd by Minneapolis police and the fallout since. Fully 65% say Trump's response has been more harmful than helpful, and 63% disapprove of the way Trump is handling race relations in the country.
Trump's particularly dismal approvals in the poll, along with his 14-point deficit against Biden, didn't sit well with the orange menace.
The CNN numbers are a bit too much reality for Trump, who surely believes he’s doing a bit better than he really is. In fact, The New York Times reported last week that allies have sometimes commissioned polls that figure favorably for him and then leak them to the press when, in actuality, his numbers are either stagnant or getting worse. So when Trump says he has “other polls,” he does—skewed polls intended to keep him from blowing a gasket.