Gallup Poll: US political polarization at worst ever levels
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The United States is the most politically polarized it has ever been, as measured by Republican and Democrat approval ratings of the President, according to a new Gallup poll.
There was an eighty-two percentage point gap–the highest ever–between Democrat and Republican approval ratings of President Donald Trump during his third year in office, according to the poll, with 89% of Republicans approving of the job Trump is doing in office and 7% of Democrats approving.
Polarization peaked during the Obama years when the 44th President became the first to sink below a 20% average approval rating from the opposing party at 13%, and began to cascade with the Clinton presidency, when the 42nd president became the first to sink below a 30% average approval from the opposition at 27%.
The George W. Bush Presidency followed suit and tallied similar numbers, with 91% of Republicans approving in 2004, for instance, and 15% of Democrats approving, as the poll noted that the 10 most politically polarized years in US history have all occurred within the last 16 years.
Trump was also on pace to be the most highly rated President by his own party with an average approval rating from Republicans over his presidency of 86%, trailing only Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had an average job approval rating from Republicans of 88%.