President Donald Trump’s dislike for the Obamas is no secret, making some of the latest Gallup polling that much more potent. The polling organization has found that for the 11th year in a row, more Americans admire now former President Barack Obama than any other man, and to top it off, his wife Michelle has become the most admired woman in America for the first time. She overtook the previous leader among women Americans admire, Hillary Clinton.
A full 19 percent of respondents mentioned Barack in their first or second response to an open-ended question of what man they admire most. Concurrently, a full 15 percent mentioned Michelle when asked for the woman they most admire, elevating the former First Lady known for health initiatives and more who’s recently been promoting her new book, Becoming.
She — and her husband — have also been active in the public eye through other means, like hitting the campaign trail ahead of the midterm elections. Michelle participated in a number of voter registration rallies, while her husband offered his endorsement of candidates across the nation, stumping for some at rallies too.
The Trumps, to be sure, aren’t too far behind in the rankings of most admired men and women — but they are behind, despite the fact that they’re the ones currently in the White House and to Trump, he is one of the greatest presidents in American history.
Some 13 percent of respondents named Donald Trump in their first or second response to the question of what man they admire most, leaving him second in the rankings, a place he’s held for four years. Only 4 percent named Melania Trump when pressed for what woman they most admire. Besides Michelle Obama, Melania was behind Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton, who had previously been the most admired woman in America for 17 straight years.
According to Gallup, Trump is only the second incumbent president to have — so far — failed to rank first among the men Americans most admire at any point. The only other is Gerald Ford, who took over as president after Richard Nixon resigned in the face of the Watergate scandal. Overall, this year’s poll is only the 13th time among 72 measurements that the incumbent president did not manage the honor of most admired man.
Meanwhile, if Barack Obama ranks first one more time, he will tie Dwight D. Eisenhower for the most times at the top of the list, ending up with the honor a full dozen times.
Trump has sought to distinguish himself as better than Obama, but this is yet another indication that it’s not working. His approval rating has refused to climb far above 40 percent, and on a more practical level, the country and world with his leadership in place have been experiencing increased tumult. The stock market has been on a wild roller coaster ride just recently to the point of all of the Dow’s previous 2018 gains in value remaining erased at present. The chaos has been driven by issues like Trump’s harshly protectionist economic policies and antagonistic foreign policy.
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