52 Percent Don’t Trust Obama, 60 Percent Disapprove of Obama’s Health Care Handling

The public’s trust in President
Obama has hit a new low according to a recent
Quinnipiac poll, with a slim majority (52 percent) who say the
president is not “honest or trustworthy” whereas 44 percent believe
he is. Just last month, most Americans (54 percent) agreed the
president was honest and trustworthy, while 41 percent
disagreed.

In November, Quinnipiac
found that a solid majority (60 percent) of independents
distrusted Barack Obama as well as 86 percent of Republicans, but
only 12 percent of Democrats. Slim majorities of all age groups
also reported a lack of trust in the president, including 51
percent of millennials, some of Obama’s most enthusiastic
supporters. Eight-one percent of African-Americans trust Obama and
59 percent of Caucasians do not, while Hispanics are evenly divided
51 percent to 49 percent in slight favor of the president. A
majority (55 percent) of men are distrustful of the president, and
a slight plurality (49 percent) of women agrees.

Presidential trust has likely waned amidst the millions of
Americans who have had their current health insurance plans
canceled even after President Obama
consistently promised “if you like your health care plan, you
can keep your health care plan.” Moreover, the messy rollout of
health insurance exchanges have resulted in
only 100,000 enrollments, falling about 80 percent short of
500,000 enrollments the administration’s
models had predicted. The actual implementation of the health
care law has continued to undermine the Obama administration’s
promises and predictions.

Within this context, it is perhaps less surprising that only

36 percent approve of the president’s handling of health care,
compare to 43 percent in October. Not only that, for the first time
since Quinnpiac began asking the question, Americans are equally
likely to trust Republicans with health care as President Obama (43
and 42 percent respectively). Just last month, Obama enjoyed a 9
point advantage over his GOP colleagues (47 to 38 percent). Once
debate over the government shutdown settled, the renewed focus on
the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare has not gone well for the
president.