Photo: Getty Images
President Donald Trump's net approval rating is reported to have improved slightly, according to famed polling expert Nate Silver.
"After crashing at the tail end of the longest government shutdown in US history, Donald Trump’s approval rating has stabilized somewhat. Today, his net approval rating is -13.5, which is about 1.5 points higher than his second term low on November 23rd," Silver wrote in the latest edition of his Silver Bulletin blog published on Sunday (December 7).
Silver said the increase comes from the latest TIPP and InsiderAdvantage polls which had the president at -4 and -5, respectively, which are two of the highest net approval ratings he's had "since at least early November." The polling expert noted, however, that both surveys "have strong Republican house effects, meaning they tend to show Trump with a higher approval rating than the average poll."
Trump was reported to have a -19 net approval rating from YouGov; a -7 rating from Morning Consult and a -15 rating from Bullfinch in recent polls. Last week, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten reported that the president's approval rating hit a new low for his second term and is approaching exclusive territory.
Enten discussed several polls showing Trump's negative net approval rating, including a recent Gallup poll, which had him at -24% from the -1% in January.
“We’re talking about a drop of over 20 points in the wrong direction for the president of the United States," Enten said.
Former President Richard Nixon was the only commander in chief with a lower approval rating than Trump in his second term, with Nixon's low-point coming just prior to becoming the first president to resign from office in 1974.
“Anywhere you look this is the second-worst for a president of either party in their second term dating all the way back since the 1940s,” Enten said.
The analyst added that no president has successfully increased their approval rating by more than five points between the current point of Trump's administration -- which is approaching its 11th full month -- and the midterm elections, with Enten predicting the Republicans will lose the Congressional majority.