Donald Trump has hit his lowest approval rating on immigration, according to a poll released two days after federal immigration agents killed another citizen in Minneapolis.
The president’s poor showing on one of his principal issues comes after federal immigration agents shot and killed 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti.
Videos of the fatal interaction have severely undercut claims by Trump administration officials like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who have respectively accused Pretti of being a “domestic terrorist” and someone who “tried to murder” federal agents. Polls have also shown that the public is generally not buying their baseless narrative.
In the Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted nationally from Friday—before Pretti’s death—through Sunday, just 39 percent of Americans approved of Trump’s handling of immigration. That’s a new low, according to the pollster, which had previously put Trump as high as 50 percent in February and in March.
The finding was released a few weeks after an ICE agent killed Renee Nicole Good earlier this month in the same city. In that case, too, Trump administration figures responded by smearing the victim, helping to fuel ongoing demonstrations.
The poll, which has a margin of error of about 3 percent, also found that a majority—58 percent—of respondents felt ICE agents had “gone too far” in their activities. One of out five Republicans felt that way.
Amid pressure on the issue, the Trump administration made changes in leadership on Monday, moving top Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino from Minneapolis.
Trump, 79, appears to realize the public sentiment on the issue. In a Sunday interview with the Wall Street Journal, he twice declined to weigh in on whether he thought agent who shot and killed Pretti was justified.
“We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination,” he said.
As for the president’s approval rating overall, the Reuters-Ipsos poll showed more unwelcome news: 38 percent, in what is a tie for the lowest of his term.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Despite this backdrop, the poll found that Republicans still have a 5-point advantage over Democrats on the issue of handling immigration as a whole—37 to 32 percent.
