CNN anchor Jake Tapper delivered a stinging critique of President Donald Trump in the wake of a poll that showed Americans disapprove of his actions this month.
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'Sir, these numbers are disastrous': Jake Tapper burns Trump for dismal poll results
Tapper cited a Quinnipiac University poll that called into question Trump's ability to lead the nation.
"President Trump is a man who looks to numbers and to ratings," Tapper said on "The Lead." "These numbers, sir, these numbers are disastrous."
Tapper cited unfavorable results from a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday that called into question Trump's ability to lead the nation.
In the poll, 68% of respondents said Trump was not levelheaded, 62% said he doesn't provide the US with moral leadership, 61% said he wasn't honest, and 62% said Trump was doing more to divide the country than unite it.
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Finally, 59% of respondents said Trump has encouraged white supremacist groups rather than discourage them.
"You are no doubt pleasing your base, but your behavior is causing great concern among the majority of the American people," Tapper said.
On Tuesday, in a speech in Phoenix that was largely improvised, Trump aggressively defended his response to the violent unrest at a white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month. Trump received widespread criticism after initially placing the blame for the violence on "many sides," rather than specifically condemning white supremacist groups.
Trump denounced hate groups by name last week in a scripted statement, but seemed to double down on his original statement one day later when he again claimed "both sides" were responsible for the violence, adding that there were "fine people" protesting alongside the white supremacists and neo-Nazis.
In Phoenix, the crowd erupted in cheers as Trump relitigated the media's response to each of his statements — "the words were perfect," Trump said. But critics have argued Trump's statements have empowered the so-called "alt-right" and deepened America's racial divide.
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