Nearly two-thirds of Americans think 2016 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump would do a “good” or “fair” job handling the economy, but they were less confident on the real estate mogul’s ability to handle other issues.
Thirty-six percent said Mr. Trump would do a “good” job on the economy if elected president, and 27 percent said he would do a “fair” job, Gallup said. Thirty-four percent said he would do a “bad” job.
Fifty-six percent of Republicans said he would do a good job, compared to 35 percent of independents and 16 percent of Democrats.
Most Americans, though, said he would do a bad job on foreign affairs, relations with Russia and relations with Mexico. Forty-eight percent said he would do a bad job on immigration, and 47 percent said he would do a bad job on relations with China.
In a May poll, 42 percent of Americans said former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential front-runner, would do a good job on the economy, slightly higher than Mr. Trump’s 36 percent mark.
She also had a 6-point edge, 35 percent to 29 percent, over Mr. Trump on immigration and a 25-point, 42 percent to 17 percent advantage over him on foreign affairs.
Fifty percent also viewed Mrs. Clinton favorably in May, compared to 31 percent for Mr. Trump in the new poll.
“Thirty-one percent of Americans view Trump favorably, including just shy of half of Republicans (49%), and only a quarter perceive him as a serious candidate for president,” Gallup’s Lydia Saad wrote. “That’s a shaky base from which to campaign, much less defend controversial positions. However, he appears to have some credibility with Americans when talking about the economy, perhaps reflecting his background as a long-time businessman who has built a fortune in real estate and had a successful reality TV show featuring his boardroom skills.”
The survey of 1,009 adults was conducted July 8-12 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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