Vice President Harris and former President Trump have secured some of the worst favorability ratings for presidential nominees since 1956, a new survey found.
Gallup has measured the favorability of presidential candidates on a 10-point sale for decades.
The survey found Trump has a 50 percent favorability rating, which puts him in the lower part of the total candidates. Still, it’s better than he performed in his last two campaigns. In 2020, Trump earned a 47 percent favorability rating and in 2016, he was given 36 percent — the lowest given to any candidate.
Harris trails Trump, with a 48 percent favorability rating. It’s worse than her past running mate, President Biden, who earned 54 percent among voters in 2020.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who ran against Trump in 2016, was slightly behind, with 47 percent. The only other candidate to rank below 50 percent favorability rating was former Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.), who ran for president in 1964 and lost to former President Lyndon Johnson.
Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower received the best favorability rating in Gallup’s 1956 poll, with 84 percent supporting him.
Historically, Americans ranked presidential candidates positively, with ratings of 60 percent or higher. Recently, however, voters have been less charitable. Since 2004, only former President Barack Obama ranked higher than 60 percent in both his campaigns.
With two weeks until Election Day, Harris and Trump are nearly tied nationally in polls. They are working to secure every vote they can in what is predicted to be the closest presidential race in history.
In his third presidential campaign, Trump has enjoyed name recognition, as he seeks a second term. Harris, who entered the race late after Biden dropped out, has worked to introduce herself to voters and separate herself from the Biden administration.
According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, Harris leads Trump by 1.2 percentage points with 49 percent to his 47.8 percent in an aggregation of polls.
