Independent journalist Aaron Rupar tweeted a video clip Friday morning in which House Speaker Mike Johnson, appearing on CNBC’s Squawk Box, claimed that “CNN had a story” showing President Donald Trump “at 90 percent approval rating.”
Johnson’s claim is misleading, but the 20-second video clip from Rupar also lacks context, as it doesn’t include the question to which Johnson was responding. In the full interview posted by CNBC, Squawk Box host Joe Kernen starts off by asking Johnson “whether there is a schism in MAGA world or the Republican Party” over the administration’s handling of files pertaining to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Kernen also mentioned a report published by the Wall Street Journal alleging that Trump sent a birthday note to Epstein in 2003 that featured a lewd drawing of a woman.
In his CNBC interview, Johnson described the Wall Street Journal’s reporting as a “ridiculous allegation” and “patently absurd” before adding, “The president is the most maligned and attacked political figure in the history of American politics, there’s no question about it. But he’s also the most resilient. And you see at the same time, his approval ratings are skyrocketing. CNN had a story, I think a day or two ago, he was at 90 percent approval rating.”
CNN did publish the results of a survey Wednesday showing that Trump had a 90 percent approval rating, but that is specific to GOP voters. Trump’s overall approval rating among all respondents in the poll was 42 percent. A poll released by Quinnipiac University the same day shows similar results, with 89 percent of Republican voters “somewhat” or “strongly” approving of how Trump is “handling his job as president” compared with 40 percent of total voters.
When asked to clarify, a spokesperson for Johnson told The Dispatch Fact Check there is “no clarification needed,” since Johnson “was clearly talking about the president’s approval rating among Republicans.” While Johnson was responding to a question about a potential GOP schism, he never specified “Republicans” in his comment.
