Bob Unruh
President Trump has been named 2020’s “Most Admired Man” in a poll by Gallup, ousting Barack Obama from the position he held for more than a decade.
Eighteen percent of the respondents overall named President Trump, while Obama placed second.
Others named include Joe Biden, Anthony Fauci, Pope Francis, Elon Musk, Bernie Sanders, Bill Gates, LeBron James and the Dalai Lama.
Michelle Obama was named most admired among women with Hillary Clinton far down the list with only 2% citing her.
“The incumbent president is usually top of mind when Gallup asks Americans to name, without prompting, which man living anywhere in the world they admire most. In the 74 times Gallup has asked the open-ended most admired man question since 1946, the incumbent president has topped the list 60 times. Harry Truman (1946-1947 and 1950-1952), Lyndon Johnson (1967-1968), Richard Nixon (1973), Gerald Ford (1974-1975), Jimmy Carter (1980), George W. Bush (2008) and Trump (2017-2018) are the incumbent presidents who did not finish first in past years,” the polling report said.
“When the sitting president is not the top choice, it is usually because he is unpopular politically. That was the case in 2017 and 2018 when Trump had 36% and 40% approval ratings, respectively, and finished second to Obama as most admired man,” the report continued. “Even though Trump is similarly unpopular now – 39% approve of his performance – his dominant performance among Republicans, contrasted with Democrats splitting their choices among multiple public figures, pushes him to the top of the 2020 most admired man list.”
The report said 48% of Republicans named Trump this year, and while Obama was named top choice among Democrats, with 32%, a figure that plunged from the 41% just a year ago.
“Independents are evenly split between Trump (11%) and Obama (11%), with another 3% naming Biden and 2% Fauci,” it said.
Overall, 18% of Americans name Trump, 15% name Obama, 6% Biden and 3% Fauci. The remaining top 10 men include Pope Francis, businessman Elon Musk, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, basketball player LeBron James, and the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists.
Twenty-one percent did not offer an opinion, while 11% named a relative or friend.
“This year marks the 10th time Trump has finished among the top 10 men, including four times before he entered party politics — 1988 through 1990 and 2011,” the report said.
“The Rev. Billy Graham, who passed away in 2018, finished among the top 10 a record 61 times during his life,” the report said.
This year, 10% of Americans name Michelle Obama as most admired woman, 6% name Kamala Harris, and 4% name current first lady Melania Trump. She has been in the top 10 each of the past four years.
Other women cited include Oprah Winfrey, Angela Merkel, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Queen Elizabeth II, Amy Coney Barrett and Greta Thunberg.
Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially.
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