Trump’s approval rating just hit an all-time low
(Getty)
Just weeks after announcing a ban on transgender troops in the US Military and days after white supremacists took to the streets, President Trump’s approval rating hit an all-time low.
In the wake of the Charlottesville, Virginia ‘Unite the Right’ rally at the weekend, a Gallup poll showed an all-time low for the President’s approval.
Just 34 percent of Americans said they approved of Trump’s actions as President.
It is the lowest rating Gallup has recorded after tracking his approval rating since being inaugurated.
Disapproval in the President also hit an all-time high, at 61 percent of Americans saying they disapprove.
Trump was criticised for not promptly condemning the protests in Charlottesville, where “fuck you faggots” was chanted by right-wing protesters.
The Unite the Right rally saw 32-year-old Heather Heyer killed after a car ploughed into anti-racism protesters.
Dozens more were injured in the incident.
The Southern Poverty Law Centre deemed the protest, which is believed to have attracted up to 6,000 people, as the “largest hate-gathering of its kind in decades in the United States”.
Police fired tear gas and pepper spray in an attempt to break up the protest.
Trump eventually condemned “violence” that took place on “many sides”.
Previous polls from other organisations have found Trump’s approval rating even lower.
Quinnipiac earlier in August found just a 33 percent approval rating and 54 percent said they were “embarrassed” that Trump is US President.
An alt-right white nationalist who became the viral face of the weekend’s Charlottesville protests has since denied being an “angry racist”.
Hillary Clinton promptly spoke out against the protests and violence and said her heart was with “anyone made to feel unsafe in their country”.
The low approval rating for Trump also comes after his first 100 days were a disaster for LGBT+ people in the US.
He most recently banned transgender troops from serving openly in the US military, claiming that he was doing a “great favour” to the military.
He cited costs, saying it would be too expensive to cover transgender health benefits for those serving.
But despite this it will cost the military 114 times more to ban transgender troops than it would to allow them to enlist.
Despite the assertion that it would cost the military too much to implement a transgender-inclusive policy, the Department of Defense spent five times more on Viagra in 2014 than it would on care for transgender troops.
Out trans former Navy SEAL Kristin Beck challenged President Trump to tell her to her face that she is “not worthy” after he announced the policy.
She also noted the negligible cost of providing the healthcare to trans troops compared to other military costs.
According to reports, the Pentagon was unaware that Trump was about to announce the rolling back of the Obama-era change.
It is not the first time Trump has gone out of his way to reverse a decision on LGBT rights made by Obama.
The GOP leader has already scrapped protections for transgender school kids, ceased government opposition to state-level anti-LGBT laws, and sought to slash HIV aid funding.
The decisions sour Trump’s previous claims during his election campaign to be a “friend” of LGBT people.
In a speech directly after the Orlando massacre he had claimed: “Ask yourself, who is really the friend of women and the L-G-B-T community, Donald Trump with his actions, or Hillary Clinton with her words.”
He also won endless praise from gay Republicans for waving a Pride flag on stage, while making no pledges on LGBT rights.
The ACLU has said it will take to the courts to challenge the ban.
