President Trump’s approval rating plunged 10 points to 39% during the first days of June, according to Gallup, amid widespread civil unrest over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The numbers will send shock waves through campaign staff as they try to recalibrate the reelection campaign for a summer of protests and an economy ravaged by the impact of the coronavirus.
Until now, Trump had enjoyed some of the best ratings of his presidency. Even the fallout from the pandemic, which has killed more than 112,000 in the United States, according to a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University, had failed to dent approval numbers that hovered at about 49%.
But the past week has brought intense criticism of his handling of protests. In particular, opponents were angered by his focus on law and order and the way that police used chemical irritants to clear peaceful protesters from an area close to the White House before the president posed for photographs in front of a nearby church.
Perhaps because of the controversy, Trump has maintained an uncharacteristically low profile, avoiding the sort of freewheeling interactions with journalists that have defined his time in office. Instead, after a slew of negative surveys showing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden with an election lead, he asked a pollster to analyze the statistics for bias.
The monthly figures come from a poll conducted from May 28 to June 4.
Trump’s insiders previously said their campaign target was to hit 51% approval in order to ensure reelection.
But that is now in doubt, according to Gallup’s Jeffrey Jones.
“Public anger over the Floyd killing and racial injustice more generally have proven to be a significant challenge for the president, in addition to the ongoing challenges for society and the economy arising from the coronavirus,” he wrote in a commentary on the numbers.
“His current level of approval would make another term as president unlikely, given the historical relationship between job approval ratings and incumbent reelection.”
