Obama has recently been enjoying his highest approval numbers since his first year in office. The American people have started falling back in love with Barack Obama.
Why this all-of-a-sudden love for him? Two words - Donald Trump.
The White House acknowledged that the recent opposition to Trump (and also Hillary Clinton) is a major factor in Obama’s job approval rating of 55% - a new high.
“I think the public appraisal of the president’s character is one that even in the most difficult times has been pretty durable, and I think people are reminded of that when they hear some of the rhetoric that’s uttered by the Republican nominee for president,” Josh Earnest, White House press secretary said.
Trump’s steady stream of derogatory, inflammatory and shocking statements throughout this presidential campaign have led to the antipathy towards him.
At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner earlier this year, even Obama remarked, “I haven’t really done anything differently. So it’s odd. Even my aides can’t explain the rising poll numbers — what has changed, nobody can figure it out.” Meanwhile a picture of Trump and Senator Ted Cruz flashed across the screen. “Puzzling,” Obama said, to laughter and applause.
The American public has reawakened to the fact that Obama’s character and demeanor are his strengths — important attributes for a President running a large economic powerhouse.
“We really have made critically important progress. The president’s approach has always been to focus on longer-term goals,” Earnest continued. “There are situations in which that longer-term focus has had an impact on the numbers reflected in short-term polls. But the president has been willing to sacrifice the hot takes for longer-term results, and after eight years in this office, I think that is a strategy that has strongly benefited the American people, and it’s starting to show up in the polls.”
Earnest also pointed out that under Obama’s administration, there has been six years of continuous rising employment as well as wage growth and poverty reduction.
Read more by HashtagTrumped
