Donald Trump is unpopular in SC, just not with voters

South Carolinians who voted Tuesday are more supportive of President Donald Trump and more positive about the country’s outlook than the state’s residents at large.

A majority of South Carolinians casting a vote Tuesday — 53 percent — approve of the job Trump is doing as president, according to the Associated Press’s VoteCast survey. Forty-seven percent said they did not approve of Trump.

A poll of all South Carolinians — not just voters — by Winthrop University two weeks before Election Day found a less rosy view of the president. Almost half of those surveyed — 49 percent — said they disapproved of Trump. Only 44 percent approved.

There also is a divergence in how S.C. voters and all South Carolinians see the state of the country.

More than half of S.C. voters — 53 percent — told the AP they think the country is on the right track. The general public — all South Carolinians — is less optimistic, with 56 percent saying the country is on the wrong track, according to Winthrop.

President Trump was on most S.C. voters’ minds as they cast their ballots Tuesday, they told the AP.

About three in 10 — 29 percent — said a reason for their vote was to express support for Trump. Slightly more —31 percent — said they voted to express opposition to Trump.

However, 40 percent of S.C. voters said Trump was not a factor they considered while casting their votes.

This story was originally published November 12, 2018 at 10:34 AM.