The Charlottesville issue is not going away, any time soon. President Trump proved that last night in Phoenix, as he resurrected his words on the matter, in some compulsive need to defend himself before a compliant and adoring rally crowd.

He’s not helping himself.

The latest Politico/Morning Consult poll shows a dramatic dip in his job approval numbers, since Charlottesville.

A week ago, the same poll had Trump’s job approval at an abysmal 44 percent. This week, it’s at 39 percent.

His disapproval rating is at 56 percent, and frankly, given his remarks on Charlottesville, along with his refusal to just accept that people are upset, show some maturity, and stick to some script that could possibly smooth over the feelings people are having, he’s fortunate it’s not higher.

He doesn’t get that the lower his numbers go, the less likely he is to have allies in Congress or the Senate. Nobody wants to hitch their wagon to a falling star.

Thirty-seven percent of voters in the new poll think Trump’s reaction to the violent clashes was appropriate, compared to 46 percent who think it was inappropriate.

Pollsters also found that 43 percent of voters surveyed think white nationalist protesters should be blamed for the violence that occurred in Virginia.

Another 36 percent think both the white nationalists and the counter protesters deserve equal blame for the violence.

These numbers are fairly close to the numbers from other recent polls.

There were 1,987 registered voters who responded to the poll. It was conducted from August 17 to August 19, and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.