In the face of all the “fake news” portraying President Donald Trump as a markedly unpopular president, the vocal Republican leader took to Twitter Friday to point out that his 46-percent first-year approval rating essentially tied former President Barack Obama’s at the close of his first year in office.

“While the Fake News loves to talk about my so-called low approval rating, @foxandfriends just showed that my rating on Dec. 28, 2017, was approximately the same as President Obama on Dec. 28, 2009, which was 47% … and this despite massive negative Trump coverage & Russia hoax!” Trump tweeted.

Successfully overcoming adversity

The president considered tying Obama a feat, considering the consistent anti-Trump media coverage – which statistics show has been many times more negative than what the former president received during his inaugural year in the White House.

A comparison on the topic was also brought up by Matt Drudge last week.

“Rasmussen Poll shows Trump at 46% APPROVE this morning, with 53% DISAPPROVE,” Drudge shared on Thursday, according to Townhall. “What about Obama at same exact date first year in presidency?? 46% APPROVE, 53% DISAPPROVE!”

Trump’s comments on Twitter came shortly after District Media Group President Beverly Hallberg discussed the results of the latest Rasmussen poll, on Fox News’ Fox & Friends, which revealed that Trump’s 46-perent approval rating was virtually the same as Obama’s eight years before in 2009.

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“When you look at this poll, it kind of reinforces what we have known about what Donald Trump would refer to as the ‘fake news,’ taking a poll like this and still having the narrative that he is not doing well,” Hallberg – who also serves as a fellow for the conservative Heritage Foundation – pointed out on the television show, according to Newsmax. “Also, when you look at some of the media coverage, whether it’s ABC’s Brian Ross who is now suspended for his incorrect story about the connection with the former national security adviser in Finland or even CNN having to retract some stories as well, you see that Donald Trump really has ended on a high note.”

The conservative political analyst also mentioned the passage of Trump’s landmark tax reform legislation to close out the year, and lamented at how left-leaning journalists funnel everything the president does to conform to its negative narrative.

“[The passed tax bill was] huge for his presidency,” Hallberg stressed on the program. “[But many] mainstream media networks – not Fox – [claim that Trump is doing poorly, but that’s] not the case.”

Guest-hosting on the program, Fox News contributor Rachel Campos-Duffy offered a hypothetical to size up Obama – if he had to face the same challenges Trump experienced during his first year.

“[I could just] imagine what Obama’s poll numbers would be if he had endured the abuse [Trump] has endured,” Campos-Duffy shared.

Many argue that Trump is able to counter the negative news coverage by sharing his side of the story on Twitter, but Hallberg believes that his tweets often do him more harm than good, contending that he can sometimes “make it harder for himself.”

“Let’s not forget he has multiple Russia investigations through 2017,” Hallberg stressed on Fox. “He has had an uphill battle with the news media. He has had a lot of staff turnover, as well. Yet, for him to have numbers that are this high when you hear Democrats saying there is no way he could be re-elected and with midterms arranged the corner, it makes you wonder if some in the news media are looking at these numbers and just not taking them seriously.”

She went on to draw up a comparison between the mainstream media’s coverage of stories on Trump versus those on Obama, noting that six out of every 10 Trump stories were negative – pointing out that those on Obama were “far more favorable.”

“This has been a controversial presidency when it comes to his relationship with the media,” Hallberg impressed. “Even when I saw the numbers, I was like these are really high numbers and I think largely due to a fantastic December and the fact that people wanted results and tax reform being passed was one of those that people cared about most.”

Even though a recent RealClearPolitics report indicates that Trump has an average 39.3-percent average approval rating, the president was quick to remind his millions of Twitter followers about his numerous stellar accomplishments over the past year.

“The president then retweeted a number of posts from Charlie Kirk, founder of conservative group Turning Point USA, about his successes during his first year in office, including on tax reform, the Islamic State’s decimation, judicial nominees, deregulation, and more,” Townhall’s Leah Barkoukis pointed out.

Mainstream media sounds a negative chime … again

The mainstream media – which was a loyal champion of Obama during his eight years of presidency … and continues to tout the Democrat as a role model president – remained true to its colors and immediately endeavored to discredit Trump’s approval ratings by claiming that the numbers were skewed and that Obama was really the more popular one of the two.

“And lo, using data compiled by HuffPost Pollster, we see that Trump’s approval rating has indeed risen to where Obama’s was at the end of 2009,” left-leaning Washington Post reported. “You will note, though, that this data includes only polls from Rasmussen Reports. That’s … important.”

The progressive daily insists that the nonpartisan poll was set against the Democrats.

“Why? Because Rasmussen Reports includes only likely voters in its polling – a group that tends to skew more heavily Republican, since Republicans tend to vote more regularly,” the Post’s Philip Bump answered his own question. “Rasmussen’s results, therefore, are generally more friendly to Republican candidates – and Republican presidents.”

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Copyright American Family News. Reprinted with permission.

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