Donald Trump may have just attempted his most audacious use of alternative facts to date.
Reacting to the latest approval rating poll which puts him at just 36% down from 42% in spring, he said:
There are two major issues here - firstly, as any human older than around two-years-old can tell you, 36 is not “almost 40”.
Thirty-nine and a half, 39, maybe even 38.5 at a stretch, but not 36.
Secondly, to say it is “not bad at this time” is just plain false. It’s the lowest rating of any president at the same point in their term in over 70 years.
Ratings as poor as this were never reached by Bill Clinton or Barack Obama and it took George W. Bush until his troubled second term and the full extent of the Iraq War shambles to hit similar numbers.
His disapproval rating has risen five points to 58% and 48% in total say they “disapprove strongly” of his presidency, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Trump appears to have an equally deluded view about the UK as he does numbers, after it was reported he will not come to Britain for his controversial state visit until he is sure of getting a “better reception”.
The President was said to have told the Prime Minister he had not had “great coverage” in the UK and had urged her to “fix it for me”, according to The Sun on Sunday.
It was originally reported last month that Trump had informed May that he did not want to go ahead with the visit if there were likely to be large-scale protests, reports the Press Association.
The PM is not in a particularly strong position to influence public perception after a disastrous General Election result and a string of failed and botched public appearances.