U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time edged out former President Barack Obama as the most admired man in America, a new Gallup poll showed on Tuesday.
“Trump tied former President Barack Obama for the honour last year but edged out his predecessor this year.
“Trump’s first-place finish ends a 12-year run as the most admired man for Obama, tied with Dwight Eisenhower for the most ever,” Gallup said in a statement.
When asked without any prompting who they regarded as the most admired man, 18 per cent of respondents named Trump, while 15 per cent picked Obama, 6 per cent chose President-elect Joe Biden, and 3 per cent selected top U.S. health official Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Gallup noted in the statement that Trump’s support among Republicans remains strong at 48 per cent, with no other man gaining more than 2 per cent of the party’s support.
Meanwhile, Democrats’ support for Obama declined from 41 per cent last year to 32 per cent this year, as party members split their votes, with 13 per cent naming Biden, and 5 per cent picking Fauci as the most admired man.
Independents were evenly split between Trump and Obama at 11 per cent, while 3 per cent named Biden, and 2 per cent picked Fauci.
Gallup pointed out that the incumbent president has topped the list 60 times out of the 74 times that the open-ended poll has been conducted since 1946.
As for the most admired woman, Michele Obama once again topped this year’s list.
Overall, 10 per cent of Americans named the former first lady, followed by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris with 6 per cent, and current First Lady Melania Trump with 4 per cent.
