OPINION:
Nearly every day, another mainstream media poll emerges that claims President Trump has the lowest approval rating since Caligula. But there’s one person Americans like even less: Hillary Clinton.
Bloomberg’s latest national poll puts Mr. Trump’s approval rating at 41 percent. Mrs. Clinton’s is two points lower, at 39 percent.
“There’s growing discontent with Hillary Clinton even as she has largely stayed out of the spotlight,” said pollster J. Ann Selzer, who oversaw the Bloomberg survey. “It’s not a pox on the Democratic house because numbers for other Democrats are good.”
So, it’s Just Hillary. In fact, her dismal rating in the latest poll is the second lowest since the poll began tracking her in September 2009. And she continues to lose ground from her 44 percent rating right before the 2016 election.
Bloomberg runs a fascinating graphic with its story, showing how Mrs. Clinton dropped in the polls after each of her scandals: Benghazi, when four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador, were killed in Libya on Sept. 11, 2012; her use of a secret email server being revealed in a New York Times story; and even when she became the Democratic nominee for president (a dark day for Democrats).
Shortly after her humiliating defeat, Mrs. Clinton began to blame Trump collusion with Russia. She’s pushed the bogus narrative ever since, giving paid speeches in which she streams out accusations to explain her loss. But apparently, few buy that canard — people just don’t like her.
Said Bloomberg: “More than a fifth of Clinton voters say they have an unfavorable view of her. By comparison, just 8 percent of likely Clinton voters felt that way in the final Bloomberg poll before the election, and just 6 percent of Trump’s voters now say they view him unfavorably.”
Chris Leininger, 29, an insurance agent from Fountain Valley, California, told Bloomberg that Mrs. Clinton “did not feel authentic or genuine to me. She was hard to like.”
That’s the understatement of the century.
Meanwhile, the Bloomberg poll had much better news for Mr. Trump.
“Almost six months into Donald Trump’s presidency, Americans are feeling fairly optimistic about their jobs, the strength of the U.S. economy, and their own fortunes,” Bloomberg wrote.
The poll found 35 percent of those surveyed care most about health care, unemployment and jobs, 13 percent; terrorism, 11 percent and immigration, 10 percent. Way down at 6 percent is the U.S. relationship with Russia. Nobody cares about the story the mainstream media is pushing every day.
In fact, the Russia relationship is just 2 points above “Other” and the combined “None of these” and “Not sure.” The Russia story is, in the words of one-time Obama adviser Van Jones, a real “nothing burger.”
But there’s more: “There are at least two areas where Americans say they believe Trump will deliver: Almost two-thirds say he will make significant cuts in government regulation, though it’s not clear whether most think that’s a good or bad thing. Likewise, 53 percent believe he will succeed in deporting millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally,” the story said.
And this: “Almost six months into Donald Trump’s presidency, Americans are feeling fairly optimistic about their jobs, the strength of the U.S. economy, and their own fortunes The latest Bloomberg National Poll shows 58 percent of Americans believe they’re moving closer to realizing their own career and financial aspirations, tied for the highest recorded in the poll since the question was first asked in February 2013.”
Highest record. You won’t hear THAT in the MSM.
So, the polls are finally getting something right: Americans really don’t like Hillary Clinton, and they’re optimistic about the future with Donald Trump.
That’s how he got into office in the first place. Good job telling us what we already knew, pollsters.
• Joseph Curl has covered politics for 25 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent at The Washington Times. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on Twitter @josephcurl.
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