Politics

Presidential approval rating polls to stop after 88 years as Trump sits at 37 per cent: 'A huge loss'

Gallup will no longer track presidential approval ratings after nearly 90 years
USA Today - News / VideoElephant

Gallup has announced it is stopping its presidential approval rating polls after 88 years.

Since 1938, the Gallup Presidential Approval Rating has tracked the approval ratings of US presidents from FDR up until today, analysing Donald Trump.

From this year, the company will cease publishing approval and favorability ratings of individual political figures, a decision they say, "reflects an evolution in how Gallup focuses its public research and thought leadership," as reported by The Hill.

“Our commitment is to long-term, methodologically sound research on issues and conditions that shape people’s lives,” a spokesperson for the agency said. “That work will continue through the Gallup Poll Social Series, the Gallup Quarterly Business Review, the World Poll, and our portfolio of U.S. and global research.”

It comes as President Trump's approval ratings haven't been looking too good; the last Gallup poll in December saw his approval ratings at less than 37 per cent.

(Although the Gallup spokesperson called it "a strategic shift solely based on Gallup’s research goals and priorities," when The Hill questioned if the White House or anyone in the current administration gave any feedback before this historic decision was reached,)

Since the news was announced that Gallup is stopping its presidential approval rating polls, social media users have been sharing their disappointment.

Peter Baker, Chief White House correspondent at The New York Times described it as "a huge loss for journalists and others who follow politics. @Gallup has been the top source for presidential approval since FDR and particularly valuable because of that historical context with apples-to-apples numbers that allow us to make comparisons and see patterns."


"Gallup had been tracking approval ratings for every POTUS since FDR," a second person wrote.


A third person added, "This isn't only the end of an era. Gallup is the whole damn history of presidential approval ratings."

"Oh this is a very normal sign of a healthy and functioning democracy," a fourth person commented.

A fifth person shared, "What the hell? This is terrible."

"WHY," someone else reacted.

Elsewhere from Indy100, The 34 most stupid things Donald Trump has ever said, and America's hopes for a brighter future reach new low under Trump.

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