CNN’s Brian Stelter called out “Fox & Friends” for doing a “disservice to viewers,” but his reasoning may leave you scratching your head.
As The Daily Caller reported on Thursday, President Donald Trump’s approval rating at the end of his first year in office is on par with President Barack Obama’s approval rating at the same time during his presidency. (RELATED: Trump Approval Rating On Par With Obama’s After One Year In White House)
“Fox & Friends” shared this fact on air Friday morning, leading the president to tweet out his satisfaction about the polls.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017
Cue Brian Stelter.
Stelter’s tweet seems to imply that it is a “disservice” to make any comparisons of poll numbers that are favorable toward Trump. It is especially bad if Trump signals that he is happy with what has been reported.
“This is a prime example of how ‘Fox & Friends’ does a disservice to viewers,” Stelter tweeted.
This is a prime example of how “Fox & Friends” does a disservice to viewers: https://t.co/ErJBOTAHbo
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 29, 2017
Let’s review the facts.
On Dec. 28, 2009, according to a Rasmussen poll, Obama had a 47 percent approval rating. On Dec. 28, 2017, Trump had a 46 percent approval rating. Obama’s approval rating on December 29, 2009 —
just one day later — was 46 percent, the exact same as Trump’s.
So Brian Stelter is apparently angry that Fox News reported poll numbers that are factually accurate because they happen to be favorable to the president. Very unbiased.
Clarification (5:43 pm ET):
Stelter disputed this article’s assertion that he took issue with the poll comparisons because they are favorable to the president. Rather, he said, Fox News was misleading its viewers by making the president appear more popular than he actually is.
“It is a ‘disservice’ to mislead the public about the president’s popularity,” Stelter told The Daily Caller. “Fox’s own poll data has shown that the president’s approval rating lags far behind all other presidents in modern history.”