Gallup: Trump overtakes Obama as America’s most admired man
President Donald Trump was named Gallup’s most admired man in 2020, making 2020 the first time in 12 years that former President Barack Obama did not receive that title.
Gallup released its annual list of the most admired man and woman Tuesday based on responses from a random sample of 1,018 adults who were interviewed between Dec. 1 and Dec. 17. For the first time in his presidency, Trump won the honor of most admired man. Eighteen percent of respondents selected him as either their first or second choice when asked “what man that you have heard or read about, living today in any part of the world, do you admire most?”
Obama came in second, with 15% of respondents naming him as their first or second choice for most admired man of the year. Rounding out the top five most admired men were President-elect Joe Biden (6%), Dr. Anthony Fauci (3%) and Pope Francis (2%). Elon Musk, Bernie Sanders, Bill Gates, LeBron James and the Dalai Lama finished out the top 10, with 1% naming each of them as their first or second choice for most admired man.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The responses given in the survey reflect the partisan divide in the country, with 48% of Republicans naming Trump as their most admired man and no other man receiving more than 2% of their votes. Democrats split their votes between Obama (32%), Biden (13%) and Fauci (5%). Trump and Obama received 11% support each among independents followed by Biden (3%) and Fauci (2%).
Trump reacted to the news on Twitter, sharing video footage from the Fox News program “The Five” that discussed how “Trump tops 2020 most admired man survey.” The video clip featured Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe praising his record as president.
...millions more votes than Trump, but can’t get anywhere close to him in this poll. No incoming president has ever done as badly in this annual survey.” @MarkSteynOnline@TuckerCarlson That’s because he got millions of Fake Votes in the 2020 Election, which was RIGGED!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 30, 2020
According to Gallup, “The incoming 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.”
Former first lady Michelle Obama was listed as the most admired woman of the year, with 10% listing her as their first or second choice. Kamala Harris came in second place, with 6% of respondents selecting her as their most admired woman followed by First Lady Melania Trump, selected as most admired women by 4% of respondents. Oprah Winfrey came in fourth with 3% of those surveyed identifying her as their first or second most admired woman.
The top 10 list of most admired women was rounded out by Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Queen Elizabeth II, who each had 2% of respondents citing them as their first or second choice for most admired woman, and Amy Coney Barrett and Greta Thunberg, who each had 1% support.
As was the case with the most admired man list, people’s choices when asked to name their most admired woman reflected their partisan preferences. Eight percent of Republicans listed Melania Trump as their most admired woman. Barrett and Nikki Haley rounded out the top three choices for most admired woman among Republicans, receiving 4% support each.
Meanwhile, 17% of Democrats selected Michelle Obama as their choice for most admired woman, with Harris coming in a close second with 16% support. Ocasio-Cortez finished a distant third among Democrats, registering 5% support. Michelle Obama also leads among independents, 11% of whom listed her as their first or second most admired woman, followed by Melania Trump at 4%.
