President Donald Trump has bragged about his approval rating using a contentious poll that generally skews in his favour, and pegs his support anywhere between seven and 11 per cent higher than other surveys.
Mr Trump tweeted that he had a 50 per cent approval rating on Wednesday, a message he displayed in an image with big, bold lettering. Much smaller was the source, Rasmussen Reports, which has generally shown a higher rate of approval than other outlets.
He did so just hours after attending the funeral for former President George HW Bush.
Other polling firms — which have conducted polls this month — point to support in the range of 39 to 43 per cent of Americans.
“Working hard, thank you!” Mr Trump wrote.
The president’s tweet was quickly criticised online by polling experts, including FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver, who has previously called the polling firm “biased”.
“The president is citing a poll from @Rasmussen_Poll, which said that Republicans would win the popular vote for the U.S. House,” Mr Silver tweeted. “Instead, Democrats won it by 9 points”.
Mr Silver’s website — which aggregates polling from all major firms — pegs the president’s approval at 42 per cent. A different poll aggregate compiled by Real Clear Politics pegs his overall support at 43 per cent.
Mr Trump has quoted Rasmussen Reports polling at least 13 times since October 2016.
In many of his posts, he compares his approval to that of his predecessor, Barack Obama, who Mr Trump has frequently attacked.
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Trump had sat next to Mr Obama while attending Bush’s funeral. The pair were joined by their wives, as well as all of the remaining living presidents in Washington for the ceremony.
Bush’s casket was then transported from Washington to Texas, where he is being buried today.
