Poll: Ryan Is Even Less Popular Than Trump
Only 29 percent of Americans approve of speaker’s performance
President Donald Trump is very unpopular, but an even smaller percentage of Americans approves of the job House Speaker Paul D. Ryan is doing, a new poll shows.
The Pew Research Center survey released Monday shows that just 29 percent of Americans approve of Ryan’s performance. In contrast, 39 percent approve of Trump, whose approval ratings rank among the lowest of recent presidents at this point in their terms.
Even among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, only 51 percent approve of the job Ryan is doing, with 75 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents disapproving.
The study also pinpoints where Trump’s greatest demographic strength lies. Those who approve of his job performance are overwhelmingly white, older than 50, and likely to describe themselves as Republicans, especially conservative Republicans.
Democrats have not been able to capitalize on those low approval numbers for Ryan and Trump, the poll found. They have a slight advantage in popularity, with 45 percent of Americans having a favorable view of the party, compared to 40 percent for the Republicans.
Pew surveyed 1,501 adults by telephone from April 5-11. Depending on the question asked and the sample size, the margins of error ranged from 2.9 points to 4.5 points.
Meanwhile, according to a recent Fox News poll, Sen. Bernie Sanders ranks among the most popular politicians in the U.S. Polled on their opinions of a few big-name lawmakers, 61 percent of Americans said they viewed the Vermont independent favorably. The next most popular politician is Vice President Mike Pence, seen favorably by 47 percent.