POLL: A Majority Of Americans Would Dump Trump For Obama

Two weeks into Donald Trump’s presidency and things continue to go south. And no, that’s not a reference to his disastrous screw-ups with Mexico. As obsessed with ratings as our reality TV president is, Trump is floundering bigly in the eyes of the nation.

Obama trump

A new poll by Public Policy Polling asked “Who would you rather was President: Barack Obama or Donald Trump?” The response was an overwhelming repudiation of Trump who received only 43 percent. Obama was favored by a majority of 52 percent.

Knowing Trump as we do, that’s going to gnaw at him intensely. But that’s only the beginning. On almost every other question in the poll, Trump fared poorly:

With regard to his executive order on immigration, 65 percent are opposed to banning Muslims. When phrased as barring people from specified countries, he still lost 53 percent of voters. He even lost lost on style with 55 percent saying his executive order was poorly executed.

On other issues, only 19 percent of voters see Stephen Bannon favorably. The same percentage think he should be on the National Security Council. And while 48 percent of Trump voters believe the conspiracy theory that airport protesters were paid by George Soros, only 26 percent of all voters buy Trump’s “alternative fact” that millions of people voted illegally.

Furthermore, 54 percent oppose building his border wall if American taxpayers have to front the cost for it. Only 37 percent of voters support the 20 percent tax on items imported to the US from Mexico. And a plurality of 46 percent now say they support ObamaCare, compared to just 41 percent who are opposed.

Perhaps the most painful results in this poll relate to the public’s impression of the media. In particular, some outlets that Trump has gone out of his way to disparage. According to PPP:

  • By a 52/41 spread voters say the Washington Post has more credibility than Trump.
  • By a 51/42 spread voters say the New York Times has more credibility than Trump.
  • By a 50/42 spread voters say CNN has more credibility than Trump.

Trump Media chart

For the record, that’s the “lying” Washington Post, the “failing” New York Times, and “fake news” CNN. All of whom are enjoying the best subscription/ratings stats they’ve seen in years. So if this is what Trump meant when he said we would all get “sick and tired of winning” bring it on, Donnie.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Trump Uses Prayer Breakfast To Slam Schwarzenegger – Gets Knocked Back On His Ass

Thursday Donald Trump spoke at the annual National Prayer Breakfast. The multi-faith event was founded to bring bipartisan politicians and religious leaders together to find common ground. Not surprisingly, Trump made it all about himself and the satisfaction of his inflated ego. He managed to turn a bridge building affair into a battlefield.

Schwarzenegger

The bulk of Trump’s remarks (transcript) were a familiar recitation of his dystopian view of a world in distress. He spoke of the persecution of Christians and the threats against religious freedom. Of course, by his definition that’s the freedom to discriminate against those who don’t practice his religion. His overall theme was that “The world is in trouble, but we’re going to straighten it out. OK? That’s what I do. I fix things.” Like elections? Trump’s confidence in his omnipotent powers is unbounded. And by a metric the right frequently used against President Obama, he said the word “I” forty-seven times.

One particularly self-exalting moment came when Trump brought up his old TV show, The Apprentice. What this has to do with a prayer breakfast is a mystery. Nevertheless, Trump felt he needed to make the point that the program has failed since his exit:

“They hired a big, big movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger to take my place, and we know how that turned out. The ratings went right down the tubes. It’s been a total disaster. And [producer] Mark [Burnett] will never, ever bet against Trump again, and I want to just pray for Arnold, if we can, for those ratings.”

It should be noted that Trump is still an executive producer of the show, so he’s slamming his own production. That’s how badly he needs to validate his value to the franchise. But Schwarzenegger is not a shrinking violet. He posted a video response on Twitter that makes a damn good point:

“Hey Donald I have a great idea. Why don’t we switch jobs? You take over TV, because you’re such an expert in ratings, and I take over your job.”

And if that weren’t enough, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger elaborated in press release that said:

“Arnold is praying that President Trump can start improving his own approval ratings, which were the worst in history for an incoming president, by taking his job seriously and working inclusively,” spokesman Daniel Ketchell said in the statement.”

Trump’s exploitation of this religious event is characteristic of his narcissistic personality. He has a compulsive need to glorify himself and insult his critics. And his flagrant pandering to perceived allies like the Christian right is just another part of his con game.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.