Donald Trump Most Unpopular Incoming President In Decades, Polls Show

When Donald Trump is inaugurated Friday as the 45th president of the United States, he will be the most unpopular incoming commander-in-chief in decades, according to national approval polls released Tuesday.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll published Tuesday showed that 40 percent of Americans view Trump favorably, compared with 54 percent unfavorably. That squares with a CNN/ORC poll, also published Tuesday, that found 40 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing with his transition, compared to 52 percent who disapprove.

Americans are leery of Trump over his possible conflicts of interest while in office, his treatment of the U.S. intelligence community and his comments toward minority groups. Trump will be sworn in as president in Washington over a weekend that may bring more protesters to the nation's capitol than supporters.

Trump is viewed as unfavorable at higher rates than any incoming president since Jimmy Carter, the earliest former president for which the Post presented data. Barack Obama was the most popular incoming president since that time, boasting a 79 percent favorable rating, according to the Post.

Trump responded by blasting polls conducted during the general election that he said were "rigged."

The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls," Trump said in a Tuesday morning Twitter post. "They are rigged just like before."

The Post-ABC News poll surveyed 1,005 people between Jan. 12 and 15. Their poll had a 3.5-percentage point margin of error. The CNN/ORC poll surveyed 1,000 Americans between Jan. 12 and 15. That poll has a 3-percentage point margin of error.

If you're curious, here are the favorable/unfavorable ratings of incoming presidents since Carter, according to the Post-ABC News survey:

• Donald Trump: 40 percent favorable/54 percent unfavorable
• Barack Obama (2009): 79 percent favorable/18 percent unfavorable
• George W. Bush (2001): 62 percent favorable/36 percent unfavorable
• Bill Clinton (1993): 68 percent favorable/20 percent unfavorable
• George H.W. Bush (1989): 65 percent favorable/19 percent unfavorable
• Ronald Reagan (1981): 58 percent favorable/18 percent unfavorable
• Jimmy Carter (1977): 78 percent favorable/9 percent unfavorable

Image via Gage Skidmore, Flickr, used under Creative Commons