MOSCOW (Sputnik) – US President Donald Trump's approval rating has hit a new low after his initial commentary on the Charlottesville violence, remarks which many have deemed to be controversial, a poll showed on Wednesday.
"A Morning Consult/POLITICO survey… shows 39 percent of respondents approve of the president while 56 percent disapprove, putting him 17 points underwater — the worst net rating he’s posted since taking office," Morning Consult said.
The rally held in the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11-12, which was organized to protest the removal of statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, turned violent. On August 12, a man rammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one woman. In his initial comment on the situation, Trump said there had been violence "on many sides," which drew the criticism of several media outlets and prominent figures in the country. In a later statement, he explicitly denounced the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups.
The poll was conducted among 1,987 registered US voters on August 17-19, its error margin is two percentage points.