Following President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday, Americans were asked about their outlook for the country over the next four years, and those saying they had more hope now beat out those indicating they had less hope – by nearly 10 percent.

Despite the mainstream media’s extensive coverage highlighting anti-Trump protesters and dissenters since the November election, a recent Gallup Poll revealed that decisively more Americans are now optimistically looking forward to four years under a Trump administration – when they were questioned after Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.

“Thirty-nine percent are now more hopeful following the inaugural, compared to 30 percent less hopeful and another 30 percent who said it made no difference,” Gallup researchers announced.

Trump: A new hope

Less Americans were hopeful following former President Barack Obama’s inauguration to begin his second term than they were after Trump’s recent inaugural. This comes as a surprise to many – especially since the mainstream media as reportedly gone through great lengths to portray Trump in a negative light by giving extended coverage to anti-Trump protests and smear campaigns.

“Thirty-seven percent were more hopeful following President Obama’s 2013 inauguration, compared to 27 percent who were less hopeful and another 30 percent who said it made no difference,” Gallup divulged.

However, before Americans had a taste of Obama as president, they were almost twice as hopeful (in 2012) than they were after four years of the Democrat’s lackluster performance in office.

“Sixty-two percent were more hopeful after Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, compared to 11 percent who were less hopeful and 23 percent who said it made no difference,” the pollsters reported.

And even though the media flourished at branding former President George W. Bush as an unpopular president, Americans were actually more hopeful after his second inauguration than they were following Obama’s second.

“Forty-three percent were more hopeful after George W. Bush’s 2005 inauguration, compared to 25 percent who were less hopeful and 28 percent who said it made no difference,” Gallup pointed out.

Rating inaugural popularity

Late Friday, just hours after Trump took his oath of office, Gallup conducted a one-night reaction poll – similar to the surveys it took on the nights following the previous four inaugurations from 2005 through 2013.

Even though Trump drew more attention from Americans during his inauguration than Obama did during his second, the former president’s first inaugural beat out the current president’s.

“Forty-six percent of Americans say they watched the ceremonies as they happened – fewer than the 60 percent who watched Obama’s first inauguration, but more than those who watched Bush’s (40 percent) and Obama’s (38 percent) second inaugurals,” Gallup survey results showed.

Breaking down the viewership of Friday’s inauguration by partisanship, conservatives were found to take a much greater interest in what Trump had to say than those on the Left.

“Sixty-one percent of Republicans watched Trump’s inauguration as it happened, compared to 35 percent of Democrats,” the statistics indicate.

When comparing the reaction to Trump’s inaugural speech with the previous two presidents’, more Americans indicated that what Obama and Bush had to say was less objectionable.

“Fifty-three percent reacted positively to {Trump’s] speech, compared to 65 percent for Obama’s 2013 inaugural speech; 81 percent for Obama’s 2009 address and 62 percent for Bush’s 2005 speech,” Gallup’s numbers over past decade-plus show.

Bridging the great divide

Perhaps still receiving some backlash from the negatively spun campaign season, Trump’s favor with the American public may not be too impressive at the moment, but pollsters believe that his support will continue to increase as his first term progresses.

“Trump will still likely have a lot of ground to make up to match the public goodwill enjoyed by prior presidents in the early stages of their presidency,” Gallup pointed out. “But the inauguration seems to have done more to help Trump than to hurt him in closing that gap.”

It is also noted that Trump’s less-than-stellar popularity rating at the moment has much to do with the radical Left’s vehement opposition that was stirred up during former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s smear campaign that she launched against Trump to portray the conservative and his followers as racist, sexist, and homophobic “deplorables.” Some Democrats continue to embrace Clinton’s negative stereotype of Trump, as a large showing of anti-Trump protesters congregated over the inauguration weekend to hold a “Deplora-Ball” to publicize their contempt for and opposition to the newly sworn-in president.

“However, since the good feeling coming out of the inauguration is predominantly from his natural political allies – Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents – and less from his natural opponents, the gap may not be fully closed unless and until Democrats’ strong negative feelings toward him subside,” Gallup researchers explained.