Episode 12
Rank: 6
Decline: -2.10%
Lowest Approval: 39.9%
Date Range: August 18-September 15, 2018
Key Events:
- Policy: Kavanaugh completes his confirmation hearing
- White House Chaos: Omarosa promoting her tell all book, releasing tapes of her firing; Trump attacks Sessions again and announces McGahn’s removal; quotes from Woodward book are released; anonymous op-ed by White House insider is published
- Taboos: Trump revokes Brennan’s security clearance, with bipartisan blowback from intelligence community; McCain memorial services; White House response with raising the flag early and a weak statement; Trump absent (and attacked) at the funeral; Trump attacks Sessions for not protecting two GOP congressman charged with crimes
- Russia Investigation: News of McGahn’s 30 hours of interviews to Mueller; Cohen takes plea deal and says Trump ordered him to commit crimes; Manafort guilty verdict; Pecker and Weisselberg granted immunity; Manafort agrees to plea deal with Mueller
This episode has a rank of 6 out of 10 on the severity scale; 6 of the 12 episodes have been more severe, so this one is in the middle of the pack. There has not been a dip this severe since December 2017. The dip is a result of a convergence of three negative news cycles: 1) the White House chaos exposed by Omarosa’s secret tapes, Woodward’s book, and the anonymous Trump official who claimed to be part of the Trump resistance; 2) new turns in the Russia Investigation with Cohen and Manafort’s plea deals; 3) McCain’s death and week long memorial, in which Trump was repeatedly unfavorably compared to McCain. The dip ended in mid September, since then his approval rating has regained the two points lost.