Obama Towers Over Trump in Humiliating Popularity Ranking
A significant portion of Republican voters even admit they like the former Democratic president.
Jonathan Ernst/Evelyn Hockstein via Reuters
Barack Obama is by far the most popular and admired U.S. president, holding a strong double-digit lead over Donald Trump, according to a poll.
A CNN/SSRS survey of 2,480 U.S. adults found that 57 percent hold a favorable view of Obama, compared to just 34 percent for Trump.
The two-term Democrat is held in such high regard among Americans that nearly one in five Republicans (19 percent) surveyed still hold a favorable view of Obama. He enjoys near-universal support among Democrats (96 percent), nine years after leaving office.
Obama is also considerably more popular than the other living presidents: Joe Biden (30 percent), George W. Bush (42 percent), and Bill Clinton (38 percent).
The poll also found that Barack Obama’s standing among independent voters is more than twice that of Donald Trump’s.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Elsewhere in the poll, Obama came out on top when respondents were asked which U.S. president they admire most, receiving 30 percent of the vote. He was followed by Trump (19 percent), Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan (9 percent), and John F. Kennedy (6 percent).
The poll results are likely to be particularly humiliating for Trump, especially as the president has helped push his longtime nemesis back into the limelight.
During Trump’s tacky UFC White House event on Sunday, heavyweight fighter Josh Hokit called former first lady Michelle Obama “a man” after defeating Derrick Lewis in the second round.
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Trump also could not resist badmouthing Obama during a tantrum when asked about his Iran deal on Wednesday.
Hours before Trump signed the controversial memorandum of understanding at the Palace of Versailles, just outside Paris, the 80-year-old blasted the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, which Tehran signed in 2015 during the Obama administration and which Trump withdrew from in 2018, during a foul-mouthed tirade.
Donald Trump's favorable rating in the poll is also at a near all-time low of 34 percent.
Evelyn Hockstein/REUTERS
“Nobody could have made this deal. I mean, the JCPOA, done by Obama... He gave them $1.7 billion in cash, green cash from banks, into a Boeing 757 and flew it into Iran.
“They tried to bribe their way out of it, and you know what the Iranians did? They laughed at Obama, and they said he’s a stupid son of a b---h,” Trump said before abruptly ending the press conference.
In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, which took place one day before the MOU was agreed, Obama said he was “doubtful” that any Iran agreement negotiated by Trump would be “significantly different” from, or a “significant improvement” on, the 2015 deal his administration brokered.
“It’s a reminder that on a lot of different foreign policy problems, the notion we can just bully our way or bomb our way to a solution may sometimes seem appealing,” Obama added. “You’d think we would’ve learned that lesson by now, but it seems like every so often we have to learn that lesson again.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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