Research from the polling firm Gallup has found that Donald Trump is the “most unpopular candidate” for president in either major party — both in this election and all the way back to 1992.
Trump’s unfavorable rating currently stands at 60 percent, which is substantially higher than that of any of his Republican rivals. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush is at 45 percent, and everyone else is even lower: Chris Christie is at 38 percent, Ted Cruz is at 37 percent, Marco Rubio is at 33 percent, and the reliably likable Ben Carson is only at 30 percent.
In the Democratic field, not even the scandal-plagued Hillary Clinton matches Trump’s low standing — she holds a 52 percent unfavorable rating. Her fellow Democratic contender Bernie Sanders is at 31 percent.
The numbers are drawn from surveys of the entire U.S. population, not just self-identified voters.
Gallup’s editor in chief Frank Newport frames these figures historically:
“I wanted to see how Trump’s unfavorable played out in the context of previous elections, so I went back to look at the unfavorable ratings of the major-party candidates from 1992 through the current election. The bottom line is that Trump now has a higher unfavorable rating than any candidate at any time during all of these previous election cycles, and that conclusion takes into account the fact that unfavorable ratings tend to rise in the heat of a general election campaign as the barbs, negative ads and heightened partisanship are taken to their highest levels.”
Even when compared with sitting presidents at their most unpopular moments, Trump’s unfavorable rating sticks out. The 60 percent statistic is sandwiched between Bill Clinton’s high of 59 percent in March 2001, shortly after he left office, and George W. Bush’s 66 percent, measured in April 2008 amid the tumultuous homestretch of his second term.
Gallup’s full report is here.
