The single most popular leader? Chief Justice John Roberts, who has a 60% approval, compared with just a 34% disapproval.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell (53% approval) and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci (52%) did next best.
No elected official had an approval rating above 50%; the best among electeds was House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy at 46% approval.
So, you are by this point wondering who did the worst of the 11 leaders? None other than Mitch McConnell, who had a measly 34% approval rating while 63% disapproved of the Senate minority leader.
Why is McConnell so disliked?
Well — no surprise — Democrats don’t like him (21% approval). And neither do independents, with just 1 in 3 (35%) offering positive assessments of the Kentucky Republican.
Neither of those groups, however, is responsible for McConnell’s rampant unpopularity. What is? The fact that that just 46% of Republicans approve of him.
How bad is that? McCarthy, McConnell’s counterpart in the lower chamber, is at 71% approval among Republicans.
It’s not complicated to figure out why there is such a big gap between how Republicans perceive McConnell and McCarthy.
McCarthy has bent over backward to pay fealty to Donald Trump in the wake of the 2020 election. He went on a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago shortly after the January 6 riot at the US Capitol to make sure everything was cool between him and Trump.
McConnell, on the other hand, strongly condemned Trump for his role in the January 6 insurrection and has done everything he can to forget that Trump even exists in the ensuing year.
Trump, never one to overlook a slight — whether real or perceived — has, in turn, taken to bashing McConnell. Not only has Trump given McConnell a pejorative nickname (“Old Crow”) but he has also reportedly been actively looking for someone to take on the minority leader after the 2022 election.
Do such dismal poll numbers worry McConnell? Certainly not at the state level. He was just easily reelected to a seventh term and won’t stand before voters again until 2026.
In terms of the GOP Senate conference, McConnell, too, seems to be in strong shape — although there is a litmus test emerging among some Trump-loving candidates who have pledged not to back him for leader if they win seats this November.
The Point: Donald Trump is a very powerful enemy to have. And while McConnell seems outwardly nonplussed with the attacks from the former President, these poll numbers make clear they are having an impact.
