President Donald Trump’s approval rating measured by Gallup reached 49 percent on Tuesday marking Trump’s highest rating since taking office in 2017.
Gallup found that 50 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job handling and 1 percent had no opinion.
Among Republicans, Trump enjoys 94 percent approval and 42 percent approval among independents, both of which are higher than in January. Only 7 percent of Democrats approved of Trump’s job in office.
In contrast, President Barack Obama enjoyed a 46 percent approval rating from Gallup at the same point in his presidency in 2012.
The news for Trump comes amid a big week for the president, on the day of the annual State of the Union address and one day before the expected vote on Trump’s acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial.
The new polling also comes a day after the Iowa caucuses where Democrats are still left without results as the Iowa Democratic Party has delayed reporting them citing issues with the technology used to administer the contest. The first round of official results are expected to be released later this afternoon.
The numbers finding broad American approval of Trump illustrate the catastrophe of the impeachment proceedings backfiring on Democrats that were precisely intended to bring the president’s approval numbers down.
Trump however, has emerged from the partisan impeachment proceedings launched by Democrats triumphantly with the highest approval rating since taking power, while support for the president’s removal has remained underwater for more than a month, according to Real Clear Politics’ aggregate of polls.
The new numbers from Gallup are an unwelcome sight for Democrats after kicking off the week with a disaster caucus in Iowa who and simultaneously anticipating a Trump acquittal in the Senate. Trump will also now have the opportunity to shine in his newfound approval in Tuesday night’s address to the nation while Democrats are in disarray.