There is, seemingly, an epidemic of “Trump voters still like Trump!” stories in recent months. But what about everybody else? Fortunately, Pew has come to our rescue with a pair of open-ended panel survey questions asked of a total of 4,971 adults, a slightly larger sample than your average chump-on-the-street news story.
Of those surveyed, just 36 percent approve of how Trump is doing, while 63 percent disapprove. Recall, of course, that in the November exit poll itself, 63 percent said Trump does not have the temperament to be president, 64 percent said he was not honest and trustworthy, and 61 percent said he was not qualified.
So what do those who disapprove have to say about the president? Above you can see their responses, as coded and categorized by Pew. Multiple responses were allowed, and you can see people had a lot to say. Notice that Trump’s tweets are not very high on the list; people who disapprove just plain old don’t like him or his policies, unsurprisingly. Meanwhile, when asked what they liked about Trump, very few could think of anything positive to say. Most simply said something negative again.
Pew published a few of the open-ended responses verbatim. Here’s some excerpts:
Best thing he does is go golfing frequently.
What I like most about how Trump is handling his job as president is how he’s too incompetent and reactive to successfully implement his destructive agenda.
He is self-obsessed, narrow minded, unpolished and a loose cannon with no integrity and can’t be trusted.
He needs to grow up.
What about those who approve? See what they have to say below.
Unlike those who disapprove, among whom very few could think of something positive to say, plenty of those who approve of Trump’s job performance could nonetheless find something to criticize. The top concern? Twitter.
Meanwhile, a majority finds his approach to governing or personality to be a positive. This category includes concepts such as keeping promises, getting things done, not politically correct, and draining the swamp. This, in other words, is his base (about half of those who approve), the ones who like it when he goes off on unhinged rants against the media at his rallies.