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Kanye West, the acclaimed rapper and (possibly former) ally of President Donald Trump, is now staggeringly underwater with American voters, according to a new public opinion poll.
According to the new poll, West’s total favorability rating stands at 22 percent, with an 11 percent favorability rating among Democrats, 40 percent among Republicans, and 15 percent among Independents.
Those numbers were among the worst of the nearly 20 public figures polled, reflecting the damage that the cultural icon has done to his image with his foray into politics. West is less popular than Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, Stormy Daniels, Colin Kaepernick, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Bezos, Nikki Haley, Nancy Pelosi, Michael Bloomberg, and Beto O’Rourke. He is even less popular than Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, who is deeply despised by vast portions of Democratic voters and not that beloved by his own Republicans either.
The only public figures polled who had lower favorability ratings than West were anti-Trump lawyer Michael Avenatti, former Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz, and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. But Avenatti’s low rating was partially a product of not being well known (he had a 20 percent favorable rating and 29 percent unfavorable). The same is true with Schultz, who had an 18 percent favorable rating and a 15 percent unfavorable rating.
West is both well known and disliked. His 22 percent favorable rating is complimented by a 68 percent unfavorable rating. Putin, by contrast, had a 12 percent favorable rating and a 76 percent unfavorable rating.
The poll, commissioned by Ipsos for The Daily Beast, was conducted between October 30 and November 1, with a sample of roughly 1,688 registered U.S. voters who were interviewed online. This sample consisted of 642 Democrats, 643 Republicans, and 292 independents.
In recent months, West has made huge headlines not for his art, but for his relationship with, and political support for, President Trump. Last month, West met with Trump in the Oval Office and effusively expressed his love for the president in the presence of senior officials and the White House press pool.
“Let’s stop worrying about the future, all we have is today,” the rapper and former, disillusioned Obama booster said. “Trump is on his hero’s journey right now. He might not have thought he’d have a crazy motherfucker like [Ye].”
West’s support for the president has caused a predictable backlash from many of his liberal friends in entertainment. And now, it appears, he’s reconsidered the relationship. Late last month, West tweeted, “My eyes are now wide open and now realize I’ve been used to spread messages I don’t believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative !!!”
For West, it might be good that he’s taking a break from politics. In 2015, West talked about running for president of the United States in 2020 during a bizarre, rambling speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. According to these recent poll numbers, it appears he could have a harder time connecting with voters than even Mike Bloomberg.
