USA ... Election 2016 Trump Transition

60 percent of voters view Trump unfavorably ... Donald Trump begins his presidential transition as the most-disliked president-elect in modern times.

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

60 percent of voters view Trump unfavorably

Donald Trump begins his presidential transition as the most-disliked president-elect in modern times.

Trump captured an Electoral College majority on Tuesday, but voters had, generally, low opinions of their next president. According to the national exit poll, 60 percent view Trump unfavorably — even more than the 54 percent who have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton.

Put another way: Trump is assuming the trappings of the president-in-waiting with only 38 percent of American voters having a favorable opinion of him. It’s a cold reality for a controversial candidate who faces immense challenges in uniting the country in the weeks before his inauguration in late January.

Thirty-six percent of voters said they would be “scared” if Trump won, and another 20 percent said they would be “concerned” — though more than a third of “concerned” voters supported Trump anyway.

Only 13 percent of voters said they would be “excited” if Trump won, and 27 percent said they would be “optimistic.”

That compares negatively with the most recent president-elect. In 2008, 30 percent of voters were “excited” about the prospect of President Barack Obama’s election, and another 24 percent were “optimistic.” Only 24 percent were “scared” and 20 percent were “concerned.”

Speaking of Obama, Trump campaigned to change both the policies and culture of Obama’s White House. But 53 percent of voters approve of Obama’s job performance, while only 45 percent disapprove.

Voters largely view Trump dishonest and untrustworthy – and fewer voters saw Trump as honest (33 percent) than Clinton (36 percent). Only 38 percent of voters thought Trump is qualified to be president – but of the 60 percent who thought he wasn’t, Trump still won 18 percent of them. Just 35 percent thought Trump has the temperament to be president – but of the 63 percent who said he doesn’t, two-in-10 supported him.

And some of Trump’s core policy proposals were unpopular with the electorate, particularly regarding immigration. The vast majority of voters, 70 percent thought undocumented immigrants working in the U.S. should be legal status. But Trump won more than a third of these voters, even though he derided such policies as “amnesty.”

A 54-percent majority opposes building a wall along the entire Mexican border, though 17 percent of those who oppose the wall voted for Trump.

Perhaps the most telling aspect of Trump’s victory was back on personal favorability. Very few voters had a favorable opinion of both candidates. Clinton won 98 percent of voters who only viewed her favorably, which was 41 percent of the electorate. Trump won 98 percent of the voters who only viewed him unfavorably, which was a smaller share of the electorate, 36 percent.

But among the 18 percent of voters who viewed both Clinton and Trump unfavorably, nearly half, 49 percent, went for Trump. Only 29 percent voted for Clinton – providing Trump’s margin of victory in a number of key states that built his Electoral College majority.

Authors: Steven Shepard SShepard@politico.com @POLITICO_Steve