The forever egomaniacal President Donald Trump has worked furiously to boost his often low profile, but it’s not working in any kind of dramatic format. Gallup has now released the results from their yearly poll asking respondents to name their most admired man and woman, and none other than former First Lady Michelle Obama was the most admired woman. A full 10 percent of respondents named her, which is slightly down from her 15 percent level in 2018, although that previous poll was conducted soon after she released her wildly successful memoir, Becoming.
Current First Lady Melania Trump finished in second place among most admired women as the pick of just five percent of respondents. In third place, there was a tie between Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, and Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg — the latter of whom President Trump has actually publicly mocked, repeatedly, even after his team complained about a Congressional witness daring to even mention his own young son, Barron.
Trump himself had a slightly better showing among those who named their most admired man. For the first time ever, he finished in first place — but he tied with former President Barack Obama, both of whom received support from 18 percent of respondents, which accounts for just over a third of overall respondents between the two of them. In 2018, Trump had nabbed the support of 13 percent of respondents, and in 2017 — the first year of his term — 14 percent of respondents called him their most admired man.
Responses were, unsurprisingly, sharply divided along party lines. Both Trump and Obama garnered the support of about four out of ten of the members of their respective parties and only a small portion of those from their main opponents’. A full 41 percent of Democrats named Obama, while 45 percent of Republicans named Trump, and independents split their support between the two of them about evenly. Some 12 percent named Obama, and 10 percent of them named Trump.
Gallup notes:
‘The results reflect the significant party divide in the U.S., with Republicans overwhelmingly naming Trump and Democrats Obama, and few other men garnering significant mention. Meanwhile, Obama’s wife Michelle has been named as the most admired woman the past two years after 25 years that saw Hillary Clinton finish first 22 times. Obama has had stronger finishes in the past two years than during her eight years as first lady, when no more than 8% of Americans named her.’
The numbers roughly reflect larger approval rating patterns. Gallup currently has Trump’s most recent approval rating at 45 percent, with an overall term average of 40 percent of respondents approving of the job he’s done. It’s been just over two years since their lowest measured approval rating for Trump, which they got in mid-December 2017, when just 35 percent of respondents said they approved of the job Trump was doing.
Trump is responding to the pressure by continuing to lash out. Like a petty imbecile, he tweeted recently:
‘So sad to see that New York City and State are falling apart. All they want to do is investigate to make me hate them even more than I should. Governor Cuomo has lost control, and lost his mind. Very bad for the homeless and all!’
What a mess.
So sad to see that New York City and State are falling apart. All they want to do is investigate to make me hate them even more than I should. Governor Cuomo has lost control, and lost his mind. Very bad for the homeless and all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2019
