Poll: Trump job approval dips to new low

Forty-two percent approve of the job President Trump is doing, while 58 percent say they disapprove, according to the latest Harvard-Harris survey.

That's down 3 points from September, when the president's job approval briefly spiked to 45 percent amid widespread praise for the federal government's response to the hurricanes that battered the Gulf states.

Since then, Trump has stirred controversy with remarks about Gold Star families and his ongoing criticism of football players who kneel during the national anthem. As Republicans find themselves wracked by intraparty feuds pitting former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Trump has also faced criticism for his response to a hurricane that devastated Puerto Rico.

The Harvard-Harris survey found that 51 percent of voters say that Trump's response to Hurricane Maria, which has left millions in Puerto Rico without power several weeks after making landfall, was worse than his response to the hurricanes that hit the Gulf states.

"Trump has a strong economy and majority support for the job he is doing on the economy - normally enough to shoot any president's ratings sky high," said Harvard-Harris co-director Mark Penn. "But the intraparty war and dust kicked up on Puerto Rico and his way of responding has people on edge about his leadership. He continues to maintain his tweets work for him despite the evidence they divide critical swing voters from his appeal."

While several surveys have found the public disapproves of how Trump has handled the issue of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, the Harvard-Harris survey found that 57 percent of voters believe the players should stand. That includes 90 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of independents. Only 31 percent of Democrats agree.

Trump's job approval rating for his handling of the economy is more than 50 percent. He also has 50-percent support on terrorism, but is underwater on immigration and foreign affairs. The president gets his lowest marks - 38 percent - on his ability to administer the government.

Sixty percent of voters say the country is on the wrong track, but 62 percent described the economy as "strong."

Trump maintains a tight grip on his base, with 80 percent of Republicans saying they approve of the job he's doing.

And the president is more popular than the GOP leaders in Congress or the Republican Party writ large.

Trump is viewed favorably by 41 percent of voters and unfavorably by 56 percent.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is at 30 percent favorable and 51 percent unfavorable, while McConnell posts a negative 16-52 split.

Twenty-nine percent of voters approve of the job Republicans in Congress are doing, including only a bare majority of Republicans - 53 percent. Democrats, conversely, have a 39-percent approval rating and are viewed positively by 68 percent of their own voters.

Sixty percent of voters say the failure to pass major legislation is the fault of Republicans in Congress, while 40 percent blame Democrats. Eighty-six percent say Trump should deal with Democrats if he can't get Republicans to agree with him on major legislation pertaining to immigration and health care.

Overall, 42 percent of voters say Trump should be impeached and removed from office. Forty-three percent say no action should be taken, while 15 percent say the president should be censured by Congress.

The Harvard-Harris Poll online survey of 2,159 registered voters was conducted between Oct. 14 and Oct. 18. The partisan breakdown is 36 percent Democrat, 32 percent Republican, 28 percent independent and 4 percent other.

The Harvard-Harris Poll is a collaboration between the Harvard Center for American Political Studies and The Harris Poll. The Hill will be working with Harvard-Harris Poll throughout 2017. Full poll results will be posted online later this week.

The Harvard-Harris Poll survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.