Vice President Harris and former President Trump have some of the worst favorability ratings for presidential nominees since 1956, according to a survey released Tuesday.
Gallup has measured favorability of presidential candidates on a 10-point sale for decades.
This month’s edition of the poll found Trump has a 50 percent favorability rating, which puts him in the lower part of the total candidates. Still, it’s better than he performed in his last two campaigns. In 2020, Trump earned a 47 percent favorability rating, and in 2016, he was given 36 percent — the lowest given to any candidate.
Harris trails Trump, with a 48 percent favorability rating. It’s worse than her past running mate, President Biden, who earned 54 percent among voters in 2020, but slightly ahead of Hillary Clinton, who was at 47 percent during her 2016 run.
The only other candidate to rank below 50 percent favorability rating was former Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.), who ran in 1964 and lost to President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Former President Eisenhower received the best favorability rating, with 84 percent supporting him in Gallup’s 1956 poll.
Historically, Americans ranked presidential candidates positively, with ratings of 60 percent or higher. Recently, however, voters have been less charitable. Since 2004, only former President Obama ranked higher than 60 percent in both his campaigns.
With two weeks until Election Day, Harris and Trump are nearly tied nationally in polls. They are working to secure every vote they can in what could end up among the closest presidential races in history.
In his third presidential campaign, Trump has enjoyed name recognition, as he seeks a second term. Harris, who became the presidential nominee late after Biden dropped out, has worked to introduce herself to voters and separate herself from the Biden administration.
According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, Harris leads Trump by 1.2 percentage points nationally, 49 percent to his 47.8 percent, in an aggregation of polls.