The Republican Party has long touted themselves as the party of support for our nation’s military men and women.
Whether it be veterans, active duty, or those who we remember on Memorial Day, the GOP has had the armed services pretty much glued to their corner for decades at this point. It could be the rural connection between those who enlist and those who are elected, or it could simply be a matter of looking at the record of the Republican Party when it comes to times of war.
In either case, conservatives and other members of the GOP have forever had a leg-up when it comes to military support.
President Trump, however, seems to be trending in the wrong direction in that metric.
President Donald Trump received a loud ovation when he participated in the coin toss ahead of Saturday’s Army-Navy football rivalry game in Philadelphia. But troops’ actual feelings about the commander in chief appear much more ambivalent in the latest Military Times survey.
Half of active-duty military personnel contacted in the poll held an unfavorable view of President Trump, showing a continued decline in his approval rating since he was elected in 2016.
Trump’s 42 percent approval in the latest poll, conducted from Oct. 23 to Dec. 2, sets his lowest mark in the survey since being elected president. Some 50 percent of troops said they had an unfavorable view of him. By comparison, just a few weeks after his electoral victory in November 2016, 46 percent of troops surveyed had a positive view of the businessman-turned-politician, and 37 percent had a negative opinion.
But it’s not all bad news.
President Barack Obama actually held a far less favorable polling number than Trump at the time that he left office to make way for No. 45.
