Trump is wrong: Zelensky's popularity rate is over 50%

Trump is wrong: Zelensky's popularity rate is over 50%

In a current media approach, ex-President Donald Trump made a wrong claim that Ukraine had "started" the war against Russia. In addition, he expressed a further misleading remark about the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj and claimed that his approval rate was only 4%. This statement attracted great attention and was classified as serious by many experts.

Trump's demand for elections in Ukraine

Trump urges the Ukraine to hold its first presidential election since Selenskyj's election in 2019. According to the Ukrainian constitution, national elections under war law are not allowed. Since the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine has been in the state of war, which has led to the rejection of the presidential elections that were originally scheduled for 2024

false information about Selenskyj's approval rate

When asked whether the United States would support an alleged Russian demand to force Ukraine to hold new elections to sign any kind of peace agreement, Trump replied: "We have a situation in which we have no elections in Ukraine; where we have war law, essentially war law in Ukraine; where the leader in Ukraine - I may not be said, but Approval value is 4%. " This statement is far from reality.

The reality of public opinion in Ukraine

Zelenskyj himself described Trump's “4%-” claim as a disinformation from Russia. Regardless of the source of this number - the White House did not respond to inquiries from CNN - it is completely unrealistic. Keith Darden, professor at American University, said that a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology shows that 57% of Ukrainians Selenskyj trust. Dard emphasized that in Ukraine one does not ask for "approval rates", but about "trust" in the leadership.

surveys show Selenskyj's high approval rate

The survey that cited Dard was published according to Trump's challenging statement. An earlier survey from December already showed that 52% of Ukrainians had confidence in Selenskyj, which was the lowest value for the president at that time since the Russian offensive began.

expert opinions on the popularity of Selenskyj

Professor Olga Onuch from the University of Manchester reported that its survey, which was carried out between November 22nd and January 7 of this year, showed that 63% of Ukrainians either or tends to agree with Selenskyj's office. Here, too, the survey was supported by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.

Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of the Kyiv School of Economics and former Economics Minister of Ukraine, said that there was never a value of 4% for Selenskyj's approval rate. Even in 2021, when his approval values were particularly low, they were still well over 4%.

The popularity of Selenskyj experienced a dramatic increase at the beginning of the war in 2022, with surveys that 90% of the Ukrainians trusted him at the time. As a result, however, this number fell considerably. Trump has not only referred to a low approval rate, but also gave a largely miserable impression of the political climate in Ukraine.