Trump Approval Ratings Continue To Dip, But By How Much?

After seven months in office, the approval numbers for President Donald Trump remain bleak. On Friday, Rasmussen Reports, a conservative-leaning poll group, showed that only 42 percent of likely voters approve of Trump, while 57 percent disapprove.

The poll numbers come after a week of volatile comments by President Trump in the wake of protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. Most Americans disapproved of Trump's comments that both sides were to blame.

Trump's recent poll numbers, however, are not much different from past Rasmussen polls. On June 13, Rasmussen showed Trump had a 45 percent approval rating and a 55 percent disapproval rating.

The low approval numbers look particularly discouraging considering Trump began his term with poor ratings, and from a polling service that has favored him more than other polls. On Jan. 24, Rasmussen had Trump at a 57 percent approval rating and a 43 percent disapproval rating. Rasmussen had listed Trump's approval ratings at 50 percent or better through the end of February, well above other polls.

But a Gallup poll released last week actually showed an improvement for the president. Gallup's numbers showed Trump with a 38 percent approval rating, and a 57 percent disapproval rating -- a minor uptick from June 13, when the polling company showed Trump had a 36 percent approval rating and a 59 percent disapproval rating.

In the past week, Trump's worst numbers came from a Reuters/Ipsos poll, which showed he had 35 percent approval and 58 percent disapproval.

In July, a Washington Post/ABC News poll showed that Trump had a 36 percent approval rating with a 58 percent disapproval rating. Trump, who has dismissed polls for their perceived inaccuracy, has revealed on multiple occasions that he follows them. He immediately took to Twitter to slam the Washington Post/ABC News poll.

"The ABC/Washington Post Poll, even though almost 40% is not bad at this time, was just about the most inaccurate poll around election time!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

On Aug. 4, Trump retweeted a post from a Twitter account called "ProgressPolls" that asked, "Who is a better president of the United States?" with the choices being Barack Obama or Donald Trump. The poll showed Trump at 61 percent and Obama at 39 percent. But ProgressPolls' numbers are not scientific and have almost entirely skewed towards Trump and conservative viewpoints.

On Aug. 7, Trump pointed to "phony Fake News polling" as his numbers continued to slide and to enforce that he is still favorable in swing states.

According to RealClearPolitics, Trump has an average of a 39 percent approval rating and a 55.1 percent disapproval rating.