President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House this month. Photo / AP
President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House this month. Photo / AP
Donald Trump will leave office with his approval rating at an all-time low, according to a new poll.
The storming of Capitol Hill and his refusal to accept that Joe Biden won the election has caused considerable damage to the US president's reputation, a poll by Pew Research has found.
His approval rating has slumped to 29 per cent - a fall of nine points since last August. Ominously for Trump, who is said to be planning to run for the White House in 2024, his rating among Republicans has plummeted even more spectacularly.
A man stands outside the state capitol wearing a Trump hat with an American flag in Lansing. Photo / AP
According to the poll, which was taken on Friday, only 60 per cent of Republicans approve of his job performance - a 17-point drop.
The disenchantment among rank-and-file Republicans is mirrored in Washington with a rift widening between Trump loyalists, who are especially strong in the House of Representatives, and mainstream members of the party.
It was a gulf which was laid bare when Congress met to confirm the results of the election. In the lower house, the overwhelming majority of Republicans voted to oppose the ratification of the result. In the Senate, only a handful, led by former presidential candidate Ted Cruz, did so.
Trump is now likely to complete his term in the White House with Mike Pence, the vice-president, refusing to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office, and an impeachment hearing due to begin after Biden takes office.
The polarisation of the moderate and insurgent conservative wings of the Republican party has been widened by the election to the lower house of supporters of the QAnon movement which believes in a raft of conspiracy theories.
Over the weekend, Nebraska senator Ben Sasse launched a withering attack on QAnon in an op-ed in The Atlantic, accusing it of destroying the party from within.
In the short term, the rift is most likely to manifest itself when the Senate considers whether to impeach Trump for a second time.
With the exception of former presidential candidate and Utah senator Mitt Romney, the Republican ranks previously held form and refused to convict Trump.
More are expected to break rank this time, with Romney likely to be joined by several others, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate is reportedly undecided on whether to back impeachment.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Photo / AP
South Carolina senator and presidential ally Lindsey Graham said he resolutely opposes impeachment which if passed, would prevent Trump from running for office in the future.
"The Senate should vote to dismiss the article of impeachment once it is received in the Senate. We will be delaying indefinitely, if not forever, the healing of this great nation if we do otherwise," he said.
National Guard troops reinforce security around the US Capitol ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Photo / AP
