MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A mere 26 percent of Republicans in the United States approve of the Supreme Court's work, which is almost 2.5 times less than the number of Democrats approving of it, a Gallup poll revealed on Thursday.
"Americans' views of the court remain highly partisan. Slightly more than one in four Republicans (26%) approve of the how the court is handling its job, compared with 42% of independents and 67% of Democrats." Gallup said on its website.
The huge difference in the stance on the court between the supporters of the two parties is not new. A similar poll carried out by Gallup in July 2015 showed that 76 percent of Democrats approved of the court's work, against the 18-percent approval rate among the Republicans. The 2015 poll was conducted just after the Supreme Court had legalized gay marriage, noting that one year prior to that in July 2014 there was no party difference in the approval of the court.
The number of people believing that the court is too liberal has increased 7 points since 2014, which, Gallup said, could be a reaction of the court's legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015.
Overall, 45 percent of US citizens approve of the Supreme Court which is a 3-point increase from the mid-July level, which was the lowest approval rate ever along with the year 2005 when it stood at 42 percent. The summer low approval rate came after the court's controversial ruling that colleges and universities can continue to use race as a factor for decisions on admitting students. Just over a quarter of US citizens supported the ruling.
