• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, December 9, 2016

A new Pew Research poll assessing the Donald Trump transition shows a vast majority of the public is still distressed with the prospect of his presidency.

Mirroring what we saw during the general election, a mere 37% of the public believes Trump is well qualified for the Oval Office, which he enters in a month. That is a measly 5 point increase from October.

As far as how he will act in office, a majority is still apprehensive. A strong 65% say that Trump is reckless, 62% find him to have poor judgment and 68% agreed that he is “hard to like.”

Not only does Trump have dangerously low approval ratings and voters sport a terribly low opinion of his temperament, he also has an incredibly weak overall mandate.

With over 200 million registered voters in the United States, Trump’s less than 63 million votes isn't much of a mandate, particularly when 63% of the country doesn’t deem him qualified for the position of president.

Trump won around 31.5% of all registered voters, and will now lead our nation’s executive branch -- with a climate-change denier as head of the EPA, a pediatric neurosurgeon as HUD chief and noted Islamophobe as his chief national security adviser -- to name a few of his mind-bending administration picks thus far.

For context, no incoming president has faced this sort of dearth of support from his constituents. At this point in Obama’s transition, he had a 72% approval rating as far as explaining his policies, Trump is at 41%. George W. Bush, in January 2001, had a 50% approval in his elucidation of his policies.

While Trump is the legitimate president-elect, one wonders why he has not done more to assuage opponents of his presidency that he can bridge the divide. Holding a press conference would help, particularly since he would have to personally answer the many questions that matter deeply to many Americans, such as:

- How will you approach your promise to deport illegal immigrants?

- What health care plan will replace the Affordable Care Act?

- How will you change immigration laws, particularly for visitors coming from Muslim-majority countries?

- What will you do about the rise in hate crimes across the country?

We’ve had indications of what he may do on many of these issues, but his positions have shifted significantly since being elected. Talking more directly to the country will not only help his approval ratings, but prepare us for the type of leader we will have for the next four years.