WASHINGTON, Aug. 26(Xinhua) -- The approval rating of U.S. President Donald Trump remains stable despite last week's guilty conviction of his former campaign chairman Pual Manafort and guilty plea by his 12-year personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who accused Trump of directing him to pay rush money against the U.S. election campaign finance laws during the 2016 U.S. elections.
Before the latest development, 46 percent of American voters approved of Trump's job performance. Afterwards, 44 percent approved, a decline that fell within the margin of error, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal polls.
Meanwhile, Democrats held an 8 percentage point national lead over Republicans in the midterm race for the House, by 50 percent to 42 percent. Democrats need to gain 23 seats for a House majority.
The first survey of 900 registered voters, conducted by telephone on August 18-22, carries a margin for error of 3.27 percentage points. The second survey of 600 registered voters, conducted by telephone on Aug. 22-25, carries a margin for error of 4 percentage points.
