Well, that went about how the folks over at NBC News no doubt hoped it would. A new NBC News/Survey Monkey poll found that about 6 in 10 of the people they surveyed disapproved of President Trump’s pardoning of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio — which, unsurprisingly, turned out to be about the same percentage that had an overall unfavorable opinion of Trump and disapproved of his handling of the job.
“Six in 10 said they felt it was ‘wrong’ for Trump to pardon Arpaio, who was convicted last month of criminal contempt for ignoring a judge’s order not to detain suspected undocumented immigrants,” NBC News reports. “Thirty-four percent of respondents said they felt Trump’s pardon was ‘the right thing’ to do.”
Asked about their overall impression of Trump, the respondents were split at about the same percentages: 61% said they had an unfavorable impression of the president, while 36% said they had a favorable impression.
The split was likewise almost identical when it came to opinions on Trump’s handling of the presidency: 59% disapproved; 39% approved.
A previous study about what was driving Trump’s historically bad poll numbers found that, unlike both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, disapproval of Trump was most strongly connected to personal dislike of him, rather than disagreement about specific policies. As the NBC News poll demonstrates, again, those who have an unfavorable view of Trump, generally respond negatively about his job performance and his approach on various hot button issues of the day.
NBC News also asked Americans how they felt about the Obama-era DACA program; the splits were slightly more pronounced: 64% want to keep Obama’s “DREAMers” protections in place; 30% don’t. Support for a path to legalization for illegal immigrants was even stronger, at 71% in favor, 26% opposing.
NBC News’ approval numbers for Trump are slightly worse than the national average as calculated by Real Clear Politics, which currently shows him with a 38.5 approval and 56.6 disapproval (a -18.1 deficit). While Trump is also behind by double digits in foreign policy, his handling of the economy is currently dead even, at 45.5 – 45.5.
Poll info: The NBC News|SurveyMonkey poll was conducted online from August 24 through August 29, 2017, among a national sample of 10,129 adults. Error estimate: plus or minus 1.4 percentage points. For full results and methodology, click here