Trump approval rating hits lowest point in seven years, poll finds

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Fewer Americans hold a favourable view of former president Donald Trump than at any point since he launched his first presidential campaign, a new poll from Quinnipiac University has found.

The survey found just 31 per cent of respondents view the twice-impeached ex-president favourably, just one month after Mr Trump officially declared himself a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Mr Trump’s approval numbers are even more dismal among independent voters, with only a quarter of respondents saying they view Mr Trump favourably and 62 per cent saying they have an unvfavourable view of the former president. That’s the worst showing for Mr Trump since Quinnipiac first began asking voters about him in May 2015.

By contrast, the man who defeated him in the 2020 election — President Joe Biden — appears to be gaining ground with voters as he considers whether to mount a bid for a second term in 2024.

While only 43 per cent of respondents said they approve of Mr Biden’s performance as president, that number is a seven-point jump since last month, when only 36 per cent said they approved of the president’s work.

Although Mr Biden hasn’t yet announced whether he’ll run for reelection, the survey found majorities of respondents saying they’d prefer to see a 2024 general election ballot with neither Mr Trump nor Mr Biden on it.

The dismal poll results for Mr Trump are just a latest in a string of surveys which show voters souring on him as he tries to return to the White House for a second, nonconsecutive term as America’s chief executive after having fomented a violent but failed coup attempt to prevent Mr Biden from taking office in 2021.

Many Republican voters who once supported Mr Trump are now viewing Florida governor Ron DeSantis far more favourably, preferring him to the ex-president in a head-to-head primary matchup.

The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,456 registered voters and was conducted from 8-12 December.