President-elect Donald Trump's approval rating is lower than other incoming presidents, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.
According to the poll, people are split over how Trump is handling his presidential transition — 48 percent approve, while 48 percent disapprove.
By comparison, Barack Obama had a 75 percent approval rating approaching his inauguration while George W. Bush had a positive rating of 65 percent and Bill Clinton pulled in 67 percent.
"One major reason Trump's transition approval lags well behind his predecessors' is that members of the opposition party are far more critical of Trump than they were of prior presidents-elect," according to the poll.
Here is how the poll compares Trump's transition approval by party to recent incoming presidents:
- 86 percent of Republicans approve of Trump's handling of the transition process compared to 17 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of Independents.
- 53 percent of Republicans had approved of Obama in late December 2008 compared to 93 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of Independents.
- 93 percent of Republicans gave George W. Bush's transition a positive rating, while 46 percent of Democrats approved of Bush, compared to 59 percent of Independents.
- 50 percent of Republicans gave Clinton high marks, while 83 percent of Democrats approved of his transition, and 64 percent of Independents approved.
"Transition approval ratings taken in December and January have tended to be higher than presidents' initial job approval rating after they were inaugurated," the poll noted. "On average, recent presidents' transition approval ratings have been about eight points higher than their first presidential job approval ratings."
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