Approval Ratings

It is necessary to distinguish between approval ratings and net approval ratings. The former simply measures approximately what proportion of the electorate approve of someone or something; the latter measures the proportion who approve minus the proportion who disapprove.

President Trump’s approval rating was recently measured by Emerson College Polling at 48%, and his net approval rating at plus 6. This reveals that around 10% of the electorate are neutral. If there were no neutrals in the USA, Trump’s net popularity rating could be as low as minus 4. In other words, he is probably not supported by the majority of the voters, though that is within the polling margin of error.

President Zelensky’s approval rating currently stands at 57%. If there were no neutrals in Ukraine, that would give him a net approval rating of plus 14. For his net approval rating to be plus 4 under these same circumstances, he would have a minimum approval rating of 52%. In other words, he would still be supported by the majority of the population.

Of course, it is quite tricky to hold an election when your country is one fifth occupied by an invading enemy, (where any expression of support for Kyiv can have fatal consequences), six and a half million refugees have fled the country, a couple of million have been internally displaced, and innumerable children have been kidnapped and taken to Russia.

For the purposes of comparison, The current UK government’s net approval rating has never been higher than minus 2 and is currently minus 54.

UPDATE: Numerous new polls were commissioned for the completion of Trump's first month. All four of the ones I've seen confirm that his net approval rating is in minus numbers.