Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s decision to meet with Donald Trump last month has had drastic consequences for his public approval rating, according to a survey of Mexican adults released Wednesday.
Pena’s popularity rating sunk to its lowest level ever, 26 percent, according to the Sept. 3-5 poll by agency GEA-ISA. It’s also the lowest number any Mexican leader has posted in nearly two decades. The Mexican president took office in early 2013 with more than half of voters supportive of his decisions, but that figure has slowly dropped over the past three and a half years as Mexico continues to battle gang cartels, corruption and violence.
The public was not impressed by Pena’s decision to tell Trump after the Aug. 31 meeting that Mexico would not pay for a border wall. Three-in-four Mexicans said it was inappropriate for their leader to have engaged the Republican nominee due to the controversial stances he has taken on immigration and against their country.
But Pena has since defended his move, by saying he does not govern based on public opinion polls, but makes decisions in the best interest of the country.
The poll was conducted among 1,000 Mexican adults and had a 3.1 percent margin of error. Pena is not up for election again until 2018 and is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
