A majority of Americans disapprove of the job President Barack Obama is doing and his approval rating has slipped eight points in the last month, according to the latest CNN/ORC International poll released Monday morning, a sign that the recent swirl of controversies has taken a toll on his public standing.
Fifty-four percent of respondents said they disapprove of Obama’s job performance, while 45 percent said they approve. It’s the lowest approval rating for Obama in more than a year and a half, according to CNN, and a significant drop in the span of a month. In the previous CNN/ORC survey just a month ago, Obama boasted a 53 percent approval rating while 45 percent said they disapproved of his job performance at that time.
Already bruised following revelations of the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups and the Department of Justice’s subpoenas of journalists, Obama may now be absorbing political damage from the National Security Agency’s sweeping surveillance programs. A majority of 61 percent said they disapprove his handling of the government’s surveillance while 49 percent said they consider the President honest and trustworthy, compared with 58 percent a month ago. Moreover, Obama’s approval rating has plummeted 17 points in the last month among people under the age of 30, long one of his most reliable pockets of support.
The PollTracker Average shows the up-and-down movement of Obama’s approval rating since last fall’s election.
