Obama most popular among Muslims, least popular among Mormons, poll shows

Muslims give President Obama the highest approval ratings of any religious group in America, while Mormons give him the lowest, according to a poll released Friday by Gallup.

Seventy-two percent of Muslims say they approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing, while only 20 percent disapprove.

Those numbers roughly flip among Mormons, with 18 percent offering their approval and 78 percent their disapproval.

The president's numbers are also strong among other non-Christian Americans (59 to 34 percent approval), Jews (55 to 41 percent), and atheists (54 to 38 percent).

Christians, though, aren't as keen on the president. Among Catholics, only 44 percent approve, while 51 percent disapprove. And among Protestants, 37 percent approve, while 58 percent approve.

The president's approval ratings among all religious groups have recently taken a dive in comparison to their average throughout his presidency, but the relative rank order of job approval figures among each group has remained stable.

"As Obama's overall job approval rating has had its ups and downs over the five-plus years he has been president, his ratings among religious groups have moved in tandem. That is, Americans of various faiths seem to react similarly to the factors that cause the president's popularity to wax and wane, rather than reacting in idiosyncratic ways tied to their religious beliefs," Gallup explains. "Clearly, members of various religions view the president quite differently, but this may be attributable more to whether Obama's Democratic affiliation matches the political leanings of each religious group, and less to the specific policies and actions he has taken throughout his presidency."

America is a predominantly Christian nation, with roughly half of the country identifying as Protestant and about a quarter identifying as Catholic. As a result, Gallup notes, "the opinions of these Christian groups are by far the most influential in determining Obama's overall ratings."

The results were compiled from an aggregate of over 88,000 daily tracking polls conducted throughout the first half of 2014. The president's average approval rating was 43 percent during that period, according to Gallup. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the survey's margin of error is plus or minus one percent, though the margins within each group vary.