Polls

Desperate Trump Tweet Accusing Hillary Clinton Proves He Doesn’t Know What ‘Illegal’ Means

Posted by on July 16, 2017 at 3:00 pm. 1 Comments :

As the walls continue to close in around the Donald Trump crime family, he’s resorting to ever more desperate outbursts. On his Sunday morning Twitter venting, the President let loose on several familiar topics. His act is getting so stale that it can be predicted with almost perfect certainty.

Hillary Clinton

Among the subjects gnawing at his ego today were his pitiful approval ratings that reached another new low. At thirty-six percent he is the most unpopular president in seventy years of polling. And yet, his comically rounded up tweet bragged that at “almost 40% [it] is not bad at this time.” That’s sort of true, it isn’t bad. It’s historically abysmal. And even as he sought to spin this poll as good news, he dismissed is it as “just about the most inaccurate poll around.” So in effect he’s saying “See how great I’m doing in this bullshit poll?”

Trump also took a perfunctory slap at the media, complaining about its “phony unnamed sources & highly slanted & even fraudulent reporting.” The man who allowed Russia to influence our election also charged that the media was “DISTORTING DEMOCRACY” (his caps). Never mind that Trump happily boasts about his own unnamed sources when they serve his purpose.

Perhaps the most ludicrous tweet of the morning, though, was the one that dug deepest into his desperation and paranoia. It’s a comment that harkens back to the classic campaign chants of “Lock her up.” That was when Trump was accusing Hillary Clinton of heinous acts of criminality that were never supported by facts. Trump tweeted this morning that:

This explains so much. Perhaps we now know why the Trump family so frequently engages in unlawful behavior. They clearly don’t know what the word “illegal” means. For instance, there is nothing illegal about getting questions prior to a debate. In fact, a competent debate prep team probably anticipates the questions in advance anyway.

Nor is it illegal to delete your own personal emails. Despite the controversy surrounding this, no one has ever proved that Clinton deleted any government documents. And that’s after FBI investigators scoured her servers and recovered many of the deleted emails.

Both of these allegations were leveled by Trump in defense of his unscrupulous son, Don. Daddy Trump is attempting to argue that his son’s treasonous collusion with hostile Russian operatives should be excused because Clinton deleted some emails and might have cheated in a debate with Bernie Sanders. Trump is obviously still obsessed with Clinton and can’t stop thinking about her and her popular vote victory. What’s more, he’s blaming the “fake” news media even though the evidence of Junior’s crimes came from his own emails. How ironic.

You have to wonder what Trump is thinking when he posts these tweets. Does he believe that they will exonerate him and his skeevy family? Does he think that he’s persuading anyone other than his glassy-eyed disciples that they’re all innocent? Can’t he read all of the replies on Twitter that are overwhelming opposed to his whining commentaries?

Trump is a president who is not only notching new lows in public opinion, he is losing the battle on almost every front. The same poll that showed him at thirty-six percent approval has other bad news for him as well. It shows that sixty percent of Americans think Russia did try to influence the election outcome. It also shows that sixty-three percent believe that meeting with Russians during the campaign was inappropriate. Other polls show that his agenda is almost universally despised. America hates his healthcare plan, his border wall, and his immigration ban.

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

These are not split decisions. They are uncommonly large majorities that have concluded that Trump and his family are dishonest and untrustworthy. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the Republican Party recognizes the risk to their congressional dominance. That’s when they will start to turn on Trump in order to save their own political skins. And the good news is that they will almost certainly make that decision too late.

Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Nears Its All-Time Low in His Favorite, Fawning Poll

Posted by on July 8, 2017 at 2:49 pm. 2 Comments :

While Donald Trump has been embarrassing America in Europe (again), his approval rating at home has been declining (again). The meeting of the G20 in Germany produced nothing that benefits the United States. Trump was the only leader who dissented on an agreement on climate change. He left his unqualified daughter Ivanka to represented the country at an important session on Africa. And his attacks on American media, intelligence agencies, and his predecessor, Barack Obama, violated long-held diplomatic protocol against criticizing the country while on foreign soil. The only beneficiary of this trip was Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. According to reports, he got Trump to agree that Russia had no role in the election tampering last year.

Donald Trump

Not surprisingly, Trump’s pathetic performance on the world stage has earned him failing grades from across the political spectrum. Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley went beyond “embarrassing” to call it “juvenile” and “crazy.” But perhaps most damaging from Trump’s own perspective is that his poll numbers have dropped precipitously at the one pollster in whom he has any confidence.

Rasmussen Reports is well known as a stridently right-leaning survey enterprise. Their polling methodology, which relies heavily on robo-calls exclusively to landlines, is not especially well regarded by statisticians. But the results are often heralded by Republicans in general, and Donald Trump in particular. Just two weeks ago he took to Twitter with a post bragging about his rise to fifty percent favorability. Never mind that that means half the country has an unfavorable opinion of him, or that most other polls put him below forty percent. It was a moment he considered worthy of celebration.

Something tells me he isn’t going to tweet the most recent results from Rasmussen. In just two short weeks, Trump has fallen to forty-four percent on his favorite poll. His all-time low on Rasmussen was just one point lower. Fifty-six percent disapprove. But even these low numbers are significantly higher than most other polls. For instance, the Gallup tracking poll currently has Trump with only thirty-eight percent approval.

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

The nation’s disdain for the President is only partly based on his foreign misadventures. He is also the driving force behind legislation to repeal ObamaCare. Most Americans are opposed to that, with support numbers in the teens. They are also opposed to his immigration bans, his rejection of climate science, and his ludicrous border wall. And his Twitter tantrums attacking the media aren’t getting much support either. Polls asking who is trusted more reveal that the public sides with the press in every instance. So don’t hold your breath waiting for Trump to tweet about that either. He’ll just lash out wildly at the so-called “fake news” and rely on his glassy-eyed disciples to prime his insatiable ego. SAD!

Suck It Trump: New Poll Shows Americans Trust CNN/NY Times More Than Lyin’ Donald

Posted by on July 5, 2017 at 4:13 pm. 4 Comments :

Last week Donald Trump tweeted a hostile and childish video showing him body-slamming a CNN character. It was universally condemned as an incitement to violence against journalists. That is, of course, consistent with Trump’s well known animosity for the free press which he demeans at every opportunity.

Donald Trump

However, Trump’s relentless campaign to slander the press does not seem to be persuading anyone but his glassy-eyed disciples. Despite his attempts to brand the New York Times as “failing,” or CNN as “fake news,” the American people are still more inclined to trust the media than the President. This is borne out in a new poll by Survey Monkey. As reported by Axios:

“Among all adults, trust for CNN is 7 points ahead of Trump. Among independents, CNN wins by 15 points. […] Asked whether they trust Trump or the WashPost/NYT more, the newspapers won by 9 points among all adults. Asked about Trump vs. ABC/CBS/NBC, the networks were judged more trustworthy by an 11-point margin.”

So Trump loses to every media entity he was paired against. Whether it is his mortal enemy CNN, the nationally circulated newspapers, or all of the TV broadcast news networks. His furious efforts to vilify the great American institution of journalism has proved totally futile. The only thing he has achieved is making ill-informed wingnuts even more unhinged and unbearable. They’re the only ones who bought into his malicious rhetoric, but they never trusted the media to begin with.

The poll also asked respondents about their news viewing preferences. Not surprisingly, thirty-three percent of Republicans said that they get their news only from Fox News. That’s not “mostly” from Fox News. It’s “ONLY!” A full third of Republicans do not use any other source for news. That explains why so much of the party clings so tightly to easily debunked falsehoods. They believe that Trump had nothing to do with the Russians. They are convinced that a failing economy was rescued by Trump. Many still think that Obama was not born in the United States. They regard whatever they see on Fox News as gospel, and Fox is the PR division of the Trump administration.

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

This poll is not the first time that Trump lost to his media foes. In February, the Quinnipiac poll asked “Who do you trust more to tell you the truth about important issues: President Trump or the news media?” Voters chose the media by a margin of 52 percent to 37 percent. Now, five months later, after five more months of lambasting by Trump, he’s still trusted less than the media he detests. That’s gotta be painful – if his handlers allow him access to that information. And since it won’t be reported on Fox News, he might never know the truth.

The Trump Effect: Making America Independent of Freedom and Liberty

Posted by on July 4, 2017 at 10:24 am. 1 Comments :

It’s the Fourth of July and millions of Americans will be celebrating by barbecuing burgers and knocking back brews. It’s the American way. Too few of them will actually be paying tribute to the principles represented by this national anniversary. That’s OK. The country needs time to kick back and enjoy a summer day with family and friends.

Donald Trump

What is not OK is the state of one of the nation’s most prominent political parties. Led by the current resident of the White House, Donald Trump, the Republican Party is deeply troubled. It is exhibiting signs of having abandoned the fundamental canons of liberty. And the voters identifying with it seem to have sold their souls to defend indefensibly un-American behaviors.

Trump’s animosity toward the free press is just one example of a deteriorating brand of patriotism. Add to that his aversion to any form of dissent. He regards all criticism as the conspiratorial plots of political foes and fake news. And efforts by Republicans to make it more difficult for citizens to vote recalls a dark time in America’s past.

These disturbing trends advanced by Trump’s GOP are sadly reflected in the rank and file of the party. A new Marist poll conducted for NPR and the PBS NewsHour tells the story. It reveals just how much of America’s liberties Republicans are willing to surrender to blind partisanship. Much of the poll was devoted to the decline of civility in political discourse, and that’s bad enough by itself. The poll found that “Seven in 10 Americans say the level of civility in Washington has gotten worse since President Trump was elected.” That is surely influenced by the flagrantly uncivil and decidedly unpresidential demeanor of Trump.

However, the poll also addressed some attitudes that are integral to the American experience we honor today. And the results are cause for concern. For instance, forty-two percent of Republicans think that freedom of the press has been expanded too much. That’s the freedom that’s established in the very first amendment to the Constitution which says that it shall not be abridged. And a huge chunk of Republicans think there’s too much of it.

And that’s not all. Forty-one percent of Republicans think the right to protest or criticize the government has been expanded too much. That’s also protected by the First Amendment as the “redress of grievances.” A smaller, but still significant, segment of the GOP (25%) thinks that the right to vote has been expanded too much. Because why would anyone want to protect the essential activity that allows citizens to participate in a democracy?

Fox News featured a part of this poll that asked respondents about the people and institutions they trust. On Fox and Friends they displayed a graphic showing that Trump is trusted by thirty-seven percent, but the media is only trusted by thirty percent. They portrayed this a win for Trump despite the fact that it means sixty-one percent don’t trust the President. That’s a substantial majority and is usually not a number to be proud of.

Fox News

What’s more, the “Trump vs. the media” comparison by Fox News is deliberately misleading. The sixty-one percent who don’t trust Trump represents the total number of people holding that view. But the sixty-eight percent who don’t trust the media includes eighty-one percent of Republicans who think it’s too liberal, plus forty-two percent of Democrats who think it’s too conservative. There’s a bipartisan lack of trust for opposite reasons. So, contrary to Fox’s dishonest spin, it isn’t a referendum on the so-called anti-Trump fake news. When a poll actually did compare Trump to the media, the media won by a landslide.

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

It’s unfortunate that so many Americans will be spending this day celebrating their own prejudices. They don’t understand the Constitution or what American freedom entails. They embrace Trump’s hostile rhetoric and his agenda of division. It’s the antithesis of liberty. But the good news is that this country was founded on ideals that can withstand the animus and ambition of wannabe dictators. We just have to be vigilant and willing to defend those ideals. So Happy Independence Day, America. Let’s keep it that way.

Pew Survey: Donald Trump is ‘Arrogant,’ ‘Dangerous,’ and Hated By Most of the World

Posted by on June 27, 2017 at 12:03 pm. 6 Comments :

Everyone already knows that Donald Trump is broadly reviled in the United States. His approval ratings have been at historic lows since the day he was inaugurated. The policies he advocates are opposed by most Americans. For example, the Republican health care bill to repeal ObamaCare is languishing at seventeen percent. Likewise, the people differ with Trump on issues such as immigration, climate change, taxing the wealthy, and the border wall.

Donald Trump

Now a survey by the respected Pew Research Center reveals that Trump is just as unpopular in the rest of the world. The results are an affirmation of how counterproductive it is to have a leader who embraces our enemies and alienates our allies. Not to mention one who behaves like a bully, lies compulsively, and exhibits profound ignorance on almost any subject. The Pew study begins by saying that:

“Although he has only been in office a few months, Donald Trump’s presidency has had a major impact on how the world sees the United States. Trump and many of his key policies are broadly unpopular around the globe, and ratings for the U.S. have declined steeply in many nations. According to a new Pew Research Center survey spanning 37 nations, a median of just 22% has confidence in Trump to do the right thing when it comes to international affairs.”

That twenty-two percent contrasts with President Obama’s sixty-four percent confidence rate in the final years of his term. That’s a forty-two point decline in just five months. And it includes a period during which Trump visited Europe and the Middle East. That trip allowed foreign leaders to get to know him personally, but it doesn’t appear to have helped. In fact, it may be a primary reason for their overt animosity.

When seventy-four percent of the world has no confidence in the U.S. president to competently lead the nation, something is terribly wrong. Particularly when that view is held by nations that are among our closest allies and neighbors. The only two countries where Trump is viewed more positively than negatively were Israel (+7%) and Russia (a whopping +42%). These other nations dislike Trump for most of the same reasons Americans do. They strongly oppose his positions on immigration, trade, and climate change. But their distaste is not limited to policy matters. The survey also shows that:

“Trump’s character is also a factor in how he is viewed abroad. In the eyes of most people surveyed around the world, the White House’s new occupant is arrogant, intolerant and even dangerous. Among the positive characteristics tested, his highest rating is for being a strong leader. Fewer believe he is charismatic, well-qualified or cares about ordinary people.”

Fortunately, the world’s loathing for Trump does not rub off on the American people. Fifty-eight percent of the survey’s respondents say they have a favorable opinion of Americans. That contrasts starkly with their opinions of Trump. According to the survey, the words most often used to describe him are “arrogant (75%),” “intolerant (65%),” and “dangerous (62%).” Only twenty-six percent regard him as “well-qualified to be president.”

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

These findings portend further trouble for Trump as his presidency continues to slide into chaos. Foreign affairs play a significant role in the advancement of U.S. national interests. These relationships are critical to enhancing trade and the economy, forging geopolitical alliances, and combating terrorism. Trump’s low marks make all of these matters more difficult, if not impossible, to successfully negotiate. And it’s all the more worrisome that Trump appears neither aware of, nor concerned about, his international revulsion.

Delusional Donald: Trump is SHOCKED By Poll That Asks Whether People Believe Trump or Comey?’

Posted by on June 23, 2017 at 2:08 pm. 1 Comments :

Poor Donald Trump. As president he is now forced to sit in the White House and suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fake news, rather than enjoying his alleged fortune. If there is one thing that’s clear about his new job, it’s that he hates it. He admitted that it was much harder than he thought it would be. That’s probably why he spends so much time avoiding work at his luxurious golf resorts.

Donald Trump

Not surprisingly, his detachment from the office drives him further from any alignment with the American people. His approval ratings are historically low, and his policies are opposed by significant majorities. As someone who likely suffers from Malignant Narcissism, Trump is unable to cope with this rejection. Consequently, he invents scenarios wherein he is uncharacteristically beloved. He imagines massive, adoring audiences that don’t exist. He makes wildly delusional claims that everyone agrees with him.

This may explain his inability to process polling that shows him decidedly out of favor. The latest example is an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll that asked “Who are you more likely to believe, former FBI Director James Comey or Trump?” According the pollsters:

“By a 2-to-1 margin, Americans say they are more likely to believe former FBI Director James Comey than President Donald Trump when it comes to their differing accounts of events that led up to Comey’s firing, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

“Forty-five percent of respondents say they are more likely to believe Comey’s version of events from his June 8 testimony to the U.S. Senate, versus 22 percent who are more likely to believe what Trump has said.”

A deeper dive into the poll has even worse news for Trump. For instance, when broken down by party affiliation, only fifty percent of Republicans said they believe Trump. Also, his overall disapproval shot up eight points since last month.

Nevertheless, Trump is convinced that the only problem is how the media portrays him. The Washington Post reports that Trump “thinks media reports automatically treat Comey’s version of events as superior to his own.” And why not? Trump has a long record of lying about pretty much everything (see the Trump Bullshitopedia) He has never told the truth about his net worth or taxes. He frequently changes positions on political issues. One day he’ll claim to have a relationship with Vladimir Putin, and the next day he’ll deny ever meeting him. And his references to data about jobs or immigration or terrorism seem to be made up on the spot.

On the other hand, James Comey has a long career in public service that is unmarred by any suggestion dishonesty. While his judgment was questioned during the 2016 election, his veracity was not. And nothing has come to light since the congressional hearings that contradicts his testimony. Even Trump has validated it. Despite calling him a liar on several occasions, Trump is now asserting that he manipulated Comey into telling the truth. Responding to questions about his May 12 tweet implying that he had tapes of his conversations with Comey, Trump now says it was a bluff to scare him into honesty. Unfortunately for Trump, it’s also a confession of witness intimidation.

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

So a plurality of the American people believe Comey over Trump. And Trump himself says that Comey has been telling the truth. So why is the President still so surprised by the public’s reaction? Why does he still think it’s the media’s fault rather than his own compulsive lying? Why is he in such an acute state of denial? These are question that are better put to a psychiatrist than a political analyst. But Donald Trump’s mental state is obviously cause for concern. And without intensive care and treatment we can only expect it to get worse.

Trump Brags About Having Higher Approval Ratings than Obama – In His Warped Imagination

Posted by on June 18, 2017 at 5:01 pm. 2 Comments :

Donald Trump is reportedly holed up at Camp David this weekend. It’s the first time that he’s visited the official presidential retreat since taking office. He prefers to stay at his own luxury golf resorts where taxpayers have to shell out for his lodging. Taxpayers also foot the bill for the dozens of staff and security personnel who accompany him.

Obama Trump

But while at Camp David, Trump still found time for exalting himself on Twitter. He boasted about how well his agenda is doing, despite a record of profound failure. All of his most prominent campaign promises have gone unfulfilled. He has been unable to repeal ObamaCare. There is no hint of a wall along the southern border. Tax reform hasn’t even begun. Terrorism is just as big a problem as ever. His attempts to implement a ban on immigration were repeatedly struck down by federal courts.

The most peculiar tweet of this Sunday morning TwitFit is one that sought to pump up his ego. Yeah, I know that applies to most of his tweets. But this one was more flagrant than most:

First of all, no one regards Rasmussen as an especially reliable survey outfit. They are brazenly biased toward Republicans and conservatives. And their accuracy lies closer to the bottom of the pack. What success they have is only because they often rejigger their findings at the end of a campaign to be more in line with other polls. That improves their averages, but is wholly dishonest. FiveThirtyEight gives them only a C+ rating. Their survey method employs automated phone calls to landlines. Most polling services regard operator-assisted calls as more reliable. And capturing the opinions of cell phone users is a requirement for accurate results.

That said, Trump’s assertion that his fifty percent approval rating is higher than President Obama’s is just plain false. According to Rasmussen’s website, Obama had an approval rating of fifty-five percent at this point in his presidency. During his first five months, Obama got as high as sixty-three percent, and never dropped below fifty-three. Trump, on the other hand, has marked record lows for a president in his first five months. This new personal high of fifty percent comes after an unlikely and unexplained seven point leap in two days.

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

Let’s set aside for the moment the fact that Trump outright lied about beating Obama’s numbers. And also the fact that Rasmussen is overtly biased. The spectacle of Trump getting excited about an approval rating that leaves half the country dissatisfied is kind of pathetic. What’s more, Rasmussen breaks down his numbers to reveal that only thirty-one percent “strongly approve” of Trump while forty-two percent “strongly disapprove” (a net negative index of -11%). Yet this is something that Trump thinks is cause for celebration. That’s the sign of a desperate and delusional man.

Death Spiral? Trump’s Support From REPUBLICANS Craters as His Presidency Flatlines

Posted by on June 16, 2017 at 3:36 pm. 9 Comments :

The political anchor that is Donald Trump continues to sink ever deeper. The latest poll by the Associated Press shows him with a flaccid approval rating of only thirty-five percent. His disapproval (64%) matches the nation’s distaste for his policies. On his handling of healthcare, sixty-six percent disapprove. Sixty-four percent of Americans object to his withdrawal from the Paris Accords on climate change.

Donald Trump

However, the bad news for Trump is far worse than than what is revealed by that already dismal poll. Gallup just updated their tracking poll of Trump’s popularity (or lack thereof) by party affiliation. The President’s historically depressed job ratings have been routinely dismissed by him and his cohorts. They have relied on their base to provide a cult-like bottom of devotion. But Gallup’s numbers just put an end to that self-deception:

“Republicans’ satisfaction with the way things are going in the U.S. took a hit since last month. Forty-one percent of Republicans say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S., down 17 percentage points since May.”

When four-in-ten of your most faithful fans are dissatisfied with your performance, you have achieved an epic level of failure. And the precipitous seventeen point collapse ought to be especially worrisome. The time span during which these numbers plunged were notable for several initiatives that Trump regarded as potentially positive. He took his first trip overseas. He announced his position on an international agreement on climate change. The stalled effort to repeal ObamaCare was restarted in the Senate. A tax reform agenda was outlined. But none of these issues moved the needle in favor of Trump.

Of course, at the same time the investigation into the Russia intrigue that has consumed his administration grew more precarious. Additional facts were revealed and more people were implicated. There were congressional hearings that featured former FBI Director James Comey and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Most recently, reports (and Trump) affirmed that he is under investigation for obstruction of justice. Surely these events are weighing on his approval ratings.

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

Other presidents have suffered through periods of low voter satisfaction. What makes Trump’s dilemma unique is that his own party is abandoning him like rats from a sinking ship of state. It is unlikely that Trump will find many Democrats or independents to buttress his decline. So if he can’t bring back Republicans he is doomed to a continuing free fall. When elected GOP representatives conclude that their constituents are hopelessly repulsed by Trump, they will be less likely to back him up. And at some point they will decide that defending Trump, even against impeachment, exposes them to more risk than benefit.

Hypocrisy or Dementia? Donald Trump’s ‘Ridiculous Standard’ of the First 100 Days

Posted by on April 22, 2017 at 9:37 am. 2 Comments :

Not that we need further evidence of Donald Trump’s mental unfitness to serve as president, but his latest Twitter tantrum gives us more anyway.

Trump Tweet 100 Days

So Trump is now dismissing the standard that he previously embraced and used to advance his agenda. And just to be certain, here he is saying it on video:

In addition to the obvious hypocrisy on display, Trump’s “Contract with the American Voter (pdf)“ is a document of his utter failure. It consists of mainly things that he hasn’t achieved. What’s more, most voters don’t want him to achieve any of these things to begin with.

No wonder the most conspicuous achievement of his short tenure is having the lowest approval rating of any president ever.

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

Worst.President.Ever: Trump Hypes Biased Poll That Still Shows Him At 50 Percent Unfavorable

Posted by on April 17, 2017 at 4:30 pm. 5 Comments :

From the day Donald Trump was inaugurated he has suffered through the lowest approval ratings of any president on record. And his repeated failures in office haven’t helped to dig him out of that hole. Consequently, he resorts to diversionary tactics to take attention away from his floundering administration. More often than not that includes lashing out at the media, bragging about his November victory, or accusing President Obama, or other Democrats, of imaginary felonies.

Donald Trump

On Monday morning Trump employed another of his favorite diversions: promoting partisan polls that he thinks make him look good. He re-tweeted the Drudge Report which posted a link to Rasmussen Reports, a brazenly right-wing polling firm. Rassmussen published the results of their latest poll saying:

“The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 50% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty percent (50%) disapprove.

“This is the first time the president’s overall approval rating has been back in the 50s in nearly a month.”

The fact that Trump gets excited about a poll where as many people dislike him as like him shows how desperate he is for any good news. But since this is a Rasmussen poll, that achievement isn’t even credible. The RealClearPolitics average of all Trump polls puts him at negative nine percent. Rasmussen’s tie is the best showing of the last seven polls which range from negative six to negative twelve percent. The highest approval he reaches in any of them is 43 percent.

Further examination shows that even Rasmussen was not especially kind to Trump in the recent past. Two weeks ago Rasmussen had Trump down by eight points. The week before that he was down by twelve. So it’s rather startling that Trump surged to a tie in such a short time. Well, it would be for any pollster other than Rasmussen.

For some background, CNN’s Chris Cillizza published an article enumerating the reasons to be skeptical of Rasmussen. Among them are the pollster’s questionable methods of selecting a representative sample of voters. Or their automated telephone polling that excludes the younger demographic of cell phone users. But in general, Cillizza faults Rasmussen for failing to disclose their methodology:

“In an industry in which transparency is the name of the game, Rasmussen just doesn’t show very much of how they do what they do. That’s not to say what they do is wrong; it’s only to say we have no way of knowing how closely they adhere to accepted polling standards.”

He’s being generous. Rasmussen’s results vary widely from every other poll. And they are notorious for posting results that favor Republicans. Many media organization won’t cite them because their methods don’t satisfy the recognized standards for statistical analysis.

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

On a tangential point, it’s a little unseemly for a president to be flattering himself with poll results. I can’t think of another time when that was done outside of a campaign. It’s really just a form of low-grade propaganda when it comes direct from the White House. And for his trouble, Trump is relying on a pollster with little credibility for numbers that aren’t particularly positive. But when you’ve set records for low performance, and most of the country opposes you and your policies, I guess you take whatever crumbs fall onto your plate. And in Trump’s case, you pretend they are Creme Brulee and brag about having the best recipe ever.