Trump’s Approval Ratings Touch Record-Highs

America is rallying to the side of its president in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a Gallup poll released earlier this week, President Trump’s approval ratings are the highest they’ve been since taking office nearly four years ago.

According to the Gallup poll, Trump’s approval ratings increased by 5% from earlier in the month. His overall approval now stands at 49%, tying for the highest levels since taking office.

The last time Trump’s approval ratings were this high was during the Senate impeachment trial earlier in the year. The impeachment trial acquitted Trump of all charges, and the polling data shows that many Americans didn’t support the Democrats unwavering pursuit of impeachment.

The Gallup poll also asked Americans about their support of Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite mostly negative press coverage, over half of all Americans said they approve of Trump’s reaction to the disaster.

The news came as a big loss for Democrats, who have criticized the White House’s response to the crisis from the beginning. Roughly 60% of Americans say they approve of Trump’s handling of the crisis, and it’s possible that the increased support fueled the spike in the president’s overall approval rating as well.

The criticism began when Trump implemented a travel ban on China. Many Democratic figures claimed that the move was unnecessary. Joe Biden called it “hysterical xenophobia” and “fearmongering”. China said it was racist. The World Health Organization said the decision would cause “fear and stigma with little public health benefit”.

Yet only weeks later, after the crisis began to heat up, many of those same critics did a complete aboutface. They began criticizing Trump for not taking the crisis seriously enough. Biden, in particular, was highly critical of the President’s COVID-19 response during the Democratic presidential debate in Washington earlier this month, only weeks after calling Trump a fearmongerer for his decision to close the border with China.

Polling data shows that many Americans saw right through this painfully transparent attempts to turn a genuine crisis into political leverage.

Trump’s approval ratings increased across every political demographic. There were even a large number of Democrats that said they approved of Trump’s presidency. Earlier in the month, only 7% of Democrats approved of Trump, but the most recent poll showed that number increased to 13% over the past week; a net increase of 6 points.

The president’s ratings also improved with Republicans, albeit modestly. 92% of Republican respondents said they support the president, a 1-point increase from the previous poll.

Most importantly, Trump’s numbers spiked significantly with independents. These so-called swing voters will be instrumental in deciding the next election, so winning over this demographic is tremendously important.

Overall, 43% of independent voters said they approved of Trump’s presidency. That’s a drastic, 8-point increase from last week’s numbers, and the rally could indicate that Trump is widening his appeal with moderate voters. Continued improvement could make a big difference by the time election day rolls around.

The hard data shows that the coordinated efforts to undermine the president are backfiring. Trump’s opponents have done everything in their power to stir up public outcry against him since the crisis began, and the media has also been highly critical of the administrations efforts as well.

Unfortunately for the critics, this week’s Gallup poll indicates that the American people know a con job when they see one.