First lady Melania Trump’s favorability rating is back up after taking a dip over the summer. According to a new CNN poll conducted last week by SSRS, the first lady’s favorable number stands at 54%, up three points from June. Her unfavorable ranking stayed about the same, at 30%.
The poll was taken in the midst of Trump’s visit to four nations in Africa, her first solo international journey since becoming first lady.
During the trip, she sat for an ABC News interview but the clips only aired after the poll completed. In it, she spoke about her feelings about the #MeToo movement, the state of her marriage and whether this year of salacious headlines regarding her husband have affected her.
She also claimed to be “the most bullied person in the world” in her interview.
“It is not concern and focus of mine,” said Trump, who has proved to be one of the most private and guarded first ladies in modern history. “I’m a mother and a first lady, and I have much more important things to think about and to do. I know people like to speculate and media like to speculate about our marriage.”
Asked if she was hurt by the allegations against her husband, Trump said “it’s not always pleasant.”
The new poll numbers indicate Trump’s second-highest favorability rating in CNN polling, three points down from 57% in a May poll. Her lowest numbers since the presidential election occurred in January 2017, where she stood at just 36% favorable, with 23% of those polled having no opinion of her at all. Now, just 14% have no opinion of her, according to the current poll.
When it comes to where she stands in relation to President Donald Trump, the first lady remains solidly ahead in favorability standings. His rating is 41% favorable and 54% unfavorable in results from the same poll released earlier this week.
Predictably, the first lady has a more positive reception among Republicans – 83% – than Democrats – 28%. Fifty-six percent of Democrats say they have an unfavorable view of her, while a majority of independents have a favorable opinion of her at 55%. She also had a spike in favorability from the over-65 age group; in June it was 57%, now it stands at 66%.
Among women, Trump remains at a lower favorable rating than with men. Forty-eight percent of women find her favorable, 34% do not, and with men, the numbers are 59% and 25%, comparatively.
Trump’s comments to ABC News on the #MeToo movement raised eyebrows, with her saying she supports women and thinks all victims of abuse need help, but adding that accusers need evidence of wrongdoing if they choose to come forward.
“I do stand with women, but we need to show the evidence. You cannot just say to somebody, ‘I was sexually assaulted,’ or, ‘You did that to me,’ because sometimes the media goes too far, and the way they portray some stories it’s, it’s not correct, it’s not right,” said Trump.
The CNN Poll was conducted by SSRS October 4 through 7 among a random national sample of 1,009 adults reached on landlines or cellphones by a live interviewer. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.