Trump Is Only First-Year President To Ever Lose Most Admired Man Poll
Reprinted with permission from Shareblue.com
Donald Trump’s streak of receiving less support than his Democratic rivals continues in the latest edition of Gallup’s survey of the most admired man and woman in the United States.
But even worse for Trump, he has broken a record — he is the first first-year president not to be named most admired.
Trump comes in second after President Barack Obama, who he also came behind in 2015 and 2016. Obama has had a lock on most admired man since 2008. Hillary Clinton, who defeated Trump by nearly 3 million votes in the popular vote last year, has been named the most admired woman for the 16th consecutive year.
Michelle Obama is the second most admired woman in the survey, as she has been for several years.
More humiliating for Trump is that he has broken the trend in the poll’s 71-year history where a president in his first year has also been named the most admired man.
Previous first year presidents who won since 1946, the poll’s first year: Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson (won after his only presidential election win, though he was already president), Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.
The break with history continues to underline Trump’s historic unpopularity. Unlike other White House residents, Trump received almost no bump in support after being sworn in, has never received over 50 percent support, and has lost support consistently throughout his first year.
Trump’s aggregate approval rating of 39 percent is 10.5 percent below where Obama was at this point in his presidency — and Obama did not have the benefit of a steadily growing economy to boost his fortunes.
Trump has all the conditions in place that past presidents have been able to translate into popular support. His problem is that the American people just don’t like him.
