President Donald Trump is the man Americans’ admire most in 2020, according to an annual Gallup poll published on Tuesday.
The results: In winning the admiration of a plurality of his countrymen, Trump dethroned former President Barack Obama, who has reigned atop the survey for the past 12 years.
- The two leaders tied for the honor in 2019, but Trump edged out his predecessor this year, earning 18% of the vote compared to Obama’s 15%.
- President-elect Joe Biden, who served as Obama’s vice president, came in third with 6% of the vote.
Divided: Trump’s victory reflects America’s historic degree of political polarization and the president’s dominance of Republican hearts and mind.
- Despite his relatively low approval rating, Trump was named by 48% of Republicans, up slightly from last year, and no public figure received more than 2% of their votes.
- Democrats, meanwhile, were more divided than in previous years, picking Biden (13%), Anthony Fauci (5%), the nation’s top infectious disease expert, and other liberal figures.
- Independents split evenly between Trump (11%) and Obama (11%), with another 3% naming Biden.
Rigged?: Some Trump supporters, like Turning Point USA leader Charlie Kirk, pointed to the results as proof of the president’s unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Surveys by Gallup and others have found most Republicans do not believe Biden won the presidency fairly.
Now for the ladies: When it comes to women, former first lady Michelle Obama was Gallup’s most admired public figure for a third consecutive year.
- She was the choice of 10% of Americans, ahead of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris (6%) and first lady Melania Trump (4%).
A plurality of Americans (16%), though, named a relative or friend as the woman they admired most.
- Eleven percent chose a non-public figure as their most-admired man.
