DONALD Trump continues to trail Joe Biden in the US election race with less than four months to go.
According to data from Real Clear Politics, which collects averages from polling data, Trump has a 40 per cent approval rating – a slight decrease on figures released last week.
Mr Biden, his main opponent in the race to the White House, continues to record approval ratings of 50 per cent.
Major events in recent months such as the death of George Floyd and a rising Covid-19 death toll have seen President Trump's popularity slide.
READ MORE: Biden enjoying 9-point lead over Trump
In the last week, President Trump has criticised two US sports teams that are considering name changes in the wake of a national reckoning over racial injustice and inequality.
The president tweeted: “They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct.”
President Trump, in his tweet, also mentioned Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, saying: “Indians, like Elizabeth Warren, must be very angry right now!”
Earlier, he vowed to “safeguard” America’s values from enemies within in a speech to celebrate the Fourth of July.
Mr Trump watched paratroopers float to the ground in a tribute to America, greeted his audience of front-line medical workers and others central in responding to the coronavirus pandemic and opened up on those who “slander” him and disrespect the country’s past.
Even as officials across the country pleaded with Americans to curb their enthusiasm for large Fourth of July crowds, Mr Trump enticed the masses with a “special evening” of tributes and fireworks staged with new US coronavirus infections on the rise.
In the same week, he was also widely condemned for attacking an African-American Nascar driver over a noose which was found in his garage.
Bubba Wallace, the sole full-time black driver in the US racing organisation, was instrumental in it banning the Confederate flag from races.
A noose was later found in his garage but an FBI inquiry determined "no federal crime was committed".
President Trump called the story a hoax and suggested Wallace should apologise.
On Monday he tweeted: "Has Bubba Wallace apologized to all of those great Nascar drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX."
He did not elaborate on his allegation.
He said the noose incident and the removal of the flag had caused Nascar's "lowest ratings ever".
Later, White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said the president was making "a broader point that this rush to judgment on the facts before the facts are out is not acceptable".
Wallace later sent out a tweet condemning words of "hate from the president of the United States".
READ MORE: Support for Scottish independence surges in new poll as SNP look set for landslide victory at Holyrood elections
Meanwhile, US rapper Kanye West has said he is running to become president of the United States.
The superstar made the announcement on Twitter on US Independence Day, July 4
The 43-year-old previously sported a Make America Great Again hat and has spoken of his support for current president Donald Trump.
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