Former President Barack Obama is more popular in Alabama than President Donald Trump—an astounding turnaround in a state Trump won by 28 points over Hillary Clinton just one year ago, a new poll shows.
Obama had a 52 percent approval rating, while Trump's was only 49 percent, in a Fox News poll conducted from Monday to Wednesday, after reports that GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore had molested young girls.
The poll did offer some good news for the president, as 52 percent of registered voters still "approve of the job Donald Trump is doing as president," while 47 percent disapprove. But the approval and favorability ratings vary a lot based on voter demographics. For example, 42 percent of female voters and 71 percent of nonwhite voters "strongly disapprove" of Trump's performance, while 44 percent of white voters "strongly approve."
The poll also asked if voters believe the allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore. Again, the results were mixed: 38 percent of likely voters said yes, 37 percent said no, and 20 percent said they didn't know. In a poll taken after the Moore allegations, his opponent in Alabama, Democrat Doug Jones, surged into the lead for the first time, in part due to support from women, who prefer Jones by 26 points.
"Alabama voters want a senator who represents them with honor—and many, especially women, have decided Moore is not that person," said Chris Anderson, one of the researchers who conducted the poll.
Asked if Moore has a "strong moral character," 46 percent of likely voters said no. But 47 percent of white voters said yes, and the same percentage was for voters over age 45. Moore received a 43 percent favorability rating overall, though 12 percent of Republican voters said they had a "strongly unfavorable" opinion of him.
The poll sampled 823 registered voters, 649 of whom are considered likely voters. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.
Obama lost the state by 22 points in both of his races.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Summer Meza is a journalist from Seattle, Washington. She attended Santa Clara University and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
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