Poll: Trump's approval sinks to new low, and a once loyal voting demographic may be to blame

REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

President Donald Trump at the White House.

• President Donald Trump's approval rating is a new low in a Fox News poll.
• Only 38% of respondents approve of Trump's job performance.
• The low rating may be due to dropping approval from white men without a college degree, a key voting demographic in the 2016 election.

President Donald Trump's approval rating sunk to a new low in a recent Fox News poll, with only 38% of respondents telling pollsters they approve of Trump's job performance.

The poll, released Wednesday, comes after turbulent month marked by a series of destructive hurricanes, the resulting crisis in Puerto Rico, and Trump's ongoing controversy with several Gold Star families.

Trump's 38% job approval rating is down from 42% last month, while disapproval is up to a high of 57% from 53% in September.

Despite the drop, Trump's approval among Republicans is still strong at 83%. Meanwhile only 7% of Democrats and 30% of independents approved on Trump's performance.

Part of the drop may be due to a drop in approval among white men without a college degree, according to Fox News. Only 56% of that bloc approve of the president currently compared to 68% last month.

In the 2016 election, Trump overwhelming won that demographic with the largest margin among any candidate in exit polls since 1980, according to Pew Research Center. Trump won that group by a margin of 67% to 28%.

It is unclear what effect the federal response to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Marla effected Trump's approval rating. The poll found that 52% and 49% of respondents rated the response to hurricanes in Houston and Florida respectively as excellent or good.

However, the response to Puerto Rico was rated excellent or good by only 32%. The White House had low approvals for responses to the shooting in Las Vegas and the wildfires in California.

Trump's handling of healthcare, North Korea, Iran, and taxes were all similarly panned by respondents.

Check out the full results here»