New poll shows Melania is the second least popular first lady - here is who America dislikes more
Meanwhile, her husband, Donald Trump, ranked the worst out of 20 presidents
Melania Trump has been named the second least popular first lady in recent history, but it was Trump rival Hillary Clinton who took home the honors of being the most disliked, a new poll has found.
According to YouGov, 2,255 U.S. citizens were asked earlier this month to rank the 11 most recent first ladies on a scale of “Outstanding” to “Poor.”
Thirty-six percent said Melania was “poor,” and another 10 percent rated her “below average.” Roughly 18 percent of people in the survey ranked Melania as “outstanding” with another 12 percent saying she was “above average.” That left her with a net approval rating of -16.
The only first lady to rank lower than Melania was Hillary Clinton, who notably lost the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump. The poll saw 33 percent of people rate her as “poor,” and an additional 11 percent said she was “below average,” making her net rating -17.
Meanwhile, the most popular first ladies were Jackie Kennedy, Rosalynn Carter and Nancy Reagan, who had +56, +32 and +25 net ratings, respectively.
Michelle Obama also stood out as a favorite amongst respondents, with 33 percent saying she was “outstanding,” and 12 percent rating her “above average,” giving her a +21 net approval rating. Roughly 22 percent ranked her as “poor.”
On average, the majority of the 11 most recent first ladies received higher net ratings than their husbands.
Hillary Clinton was the only first lady to have a significantly lower net rating than her husband, who had a net rating of -3.
Several presidents and first ladies had similar ratings, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and John F. Kennedy (+56 vs. +61), Nancy and Ronald Reagan (+25 vs. +22), Michelle and Barack Obama (+21 vs. +15).
Melania and Donald Trump also had similar, albeit negative, ratings (-16 vs. -20).
It also found that 48 percent of respondents believe Donald Trump is “poor,” while another 6 percent say he is “below average.” Trump received the lowest rating of any of the 20 presidents YouGov asked respondents about. Approximately 19 percent ranked 45 and 47 as “oustanding.”
After Trump, his predecessor, Joe Biden, was the least popular ex-president, with 38 percent of respondents saying he was “poor,” while 12 percent said he was “below average.” Only 7 percent ranked Biden as “outstanding.”
The poll noted that “opinions of first ladies generally is politically polarized in a similar way to opinion of their husbands.”
The poll provides a glimpse into the public opinion of Melania Trump amidst the rollout of her controversial documentary Melania, which reportedly earned $7 million opening weekend — though ticket sales plummeted its second week, earning only $2.4 million.
Amazon spent $40 million to acquire the rights to the documentary, and a further $35 million to promote it.
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