On Wednesday, Gallup announced that after 88 years, it will no longer be tracking presidential approval ratings. The organization that began asking Americans a simple question in 1938 — ”Do you approve or disapprove today of Franklin Roosevelt’s job as President?” — now believes the very premise of the poll and the results it provided “no longer represent an area where Gallup can make its most distinctive contribution.”
A spokesperson for the organization characterized the decision as “part of a broader, ongoing effort to align all of Gallup’s public work with its mission” and denied that it came in response to pressure from the Trump administration. But the sudden change, coming at a time when reports have circulated about Donald Trump’s anger at his historically-low approval ratings, is suspect. In a recent video, Democratic strategist James Carville suggested that Gallup’s move was “a strategic decision.”
