Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s quest for the presidency will have to overcome a very simple, very big hurdle: The vast majority of Americans don’t like him.
Donald Trump has the biggest, most impressive unfavorable ratings you’ve ever seen
Libby Nelson was Vox’s editorial director, politics and policy, leading coverage of how government action and inaction shape American life. Libby has more than a decade of policy journalism experience, including at Inside Higher Ed and Politico. She joined Vox in 2014.
A new Washington Post/ABC poll found that 70 percent of all adults, and 69 percent of registered voters, have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, beating the previous high of 67 percent in April.
Democrats are united in their distaste for him: 95 percent said they have an unfavorable opinion. Women aren’t far behind.
The only category of Americans that still have a favorable opinion of Trump are Republicans — and even so, just 65 percent view him favorably. Even among white men and white Americans without a college degree, two groups that have typically been better disposed toward the presumptive nominee, Trump is unpopular. Fifty-three percent of white people without a college degree have an unfavorable opinion, as do 52 percent of white men.
Trump’s unpopularity is so huge that it even dwarfs Hillary Clinton’s, which is also at historic highs: 55 percent of Americans, including 75 percent of white men, dislike her. Clinton is less popular with white men than Trump is with white women. Still, Clinton is more popular within her own party than Trump is within his, and she’s more popular among Republicans than Trump is among Democrats.
But compare this to ABC/Washington Post polls from the last time both parties had a contested nomination, and it becomes clear that many Americans see 2016 as a contest of who they hate least.
At this point in 2008, 63 percent of Americans had a favorable view of then-Sen. Barack Obama, and just 33 percent disliked him. Sen. John McCain was just behind him, with 56 percent having a favorable view and 39 percent an unfavorable view.
