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Donald Trump losing support among core voters as they begin to regret their decision, poll finds

Republicans thought he 'would become more presidential - but he has not,' political communications expert tells The Independent

Lucy Pasha-Robinson
Thursday 23 March 2017 18:39 GMT
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'The problem is Trump didn't promise anything specific - it was a very broad idea of bringing jobs back and bringing the economy back and really the only thing he has done so far is try to ban Muslims from entering America,' expert tells The Independent
'The problem is Trump didn't promise anything specific - it was a very broad idea of bringing jobs back and bringing the economy back and really the only thing he has done so far is try to ban Muslims from entering America,' expert tells The Independent (Reuters)

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Donald Trump is being abandoned by his white male core supporters, as well as other members of the Republican Party, a new poll has found.

The US president’s approval rating has plummeted to a record low of 37 per cent, which could be attributed to failing support in key areas of his voter base, the Quinnipiac University survey revealed.

Political communications expert Dr Darren Lilleker told The Independent dwindling Republican support indicates the President is not living up to pre-election expectations.

“Standard Republicans would never have voted Hillary Clinton so they voted Trump, thinking he would become more presidential - but he has not,” he said.

“The problem is Trump didn't promise anything specific - it was a very broad idea of bringing jobs back and bringing the economy back and really the only thing he has done so far is try to ban Muslims from entering America.”

The poll also found 60 per cent of voters believe he is dishonest and 66 per cent believe he is not level headed.

It found 43 per cent of men disapprove of the former real-estate mogul.

While 81 per cent of Republicans still approve, that has dropped by 10 per cent in just two weeks.

Support from white voters’ support is also waning with 44 per cent now disapproving of the President.

Women, Democrats, Independents and non-white voters all largely disapprove of Mr Trump.

“He is not an impressive communicator and I think a lot of Americans will be looking at it shaking their heads and thinking ‘This is how people are perceiving us abroad’,” Dr Lilleker said.

The poll also revealed 73 per cent of Americans voters say Mr Trump and his Administration make statements without evidence to support them "very often" or "somewhat often."

Just 25 per cent of Americans believe Mr Trump is more honest than most of the previous presidents.

Mr Trump defended his presidency in an interview with Time magazine.

“I guess I can’t be doing so badly, because I’m President, and you’re not,” he said.

He added: “I inherited a mess with jobs, despite the statistics, you know, my statistics are even better, but they are not the real statistics because you have millions of people that can’t get a job, ok."

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