President Trump’s approval rating for overseeing the federal government’s response to hurricane’s has dipped by 20 points in the past month, according to a new poll.
Trump reached a 64 percent approval rating for responding to Hurricane’s Harvey and Irma in mid-September, but now only 44 percent of Americans approve of his response to hurricanes, as Puerto Rico attempts to recover from Hurricane Maria that has devastated the island, according to a CNN Poll conducted by SSRS.
Through relief and repair efforts are underway, power may not be returned to the entirety of the island for six months.
Trump has faced criticism for not responding fast enough to the conditions in Puerto Rico, while also sparring with local officials like the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz. Cruz had previously requested for additional help from the administration while Democrats criticized the administration for not acting swiftly enough.
Trump has also claimed local officials are not doing enough, yet has also praised the efforts of the military and first responders in Puerto Rico.
Most recently, Trump has maintained food and supplies are not being properly distributed by local relief efforts.
“We have massive amounts of water,” Trump said Monday during a news conference. “We have massive amounts of food, but they have to distribute the food, and they have to do this. They have to distribute the food to the people of the island.”
The CNN Poll was conducted by SSRS from Oct.12-15 by telephone using a random sample of 1,010 adults.
