US: RFK Jr. Maintains Highest Favourability Rating Among Presidential Candidates in New Poll
Days after a House hearing on censorship that saw Democrats attempt to prevent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from testifying, a new Harvard-Harris poll showed that he has a higher favourability rating than any other presidential candidate.
Mr. Kennedy has a net favourable rating of 47 percent and a net unfavourable mark of 26 percent according to the survey, which was released on July 23 and conducted from July 19 to July 20 among 2,068 registered voters (pdf).
Poll respondents said that former President Donald Trump has a favorability rating of 45 percent compared to a 49 percent unfavorability number. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has a 40 percent favourable rating and 37 percent unfavourable, and President Joe Biden has 39 percent favourable and 53 percent unfavourable rating, also lagging behind Mr. Kennedy.
Mr. Trump would win the Republican primary and defeat Mr. Biden in a general election, according to the survey, with a 45 percent to 40 percent margin. The former president would top vice president Kamala Harris 47 percent to 38 percent, the poll showed.
The survey did not indicate what would happen in a head-to-head matchup between Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Trump.
Dismissed as a longshot candidate by many political pundits, Mr. Kennedy also had the highest net favorability of all 2024 presidential candidates in a June poll from The Economist/YouGov.
Mr. Kennedy was viewed favourably by 49 percent of the respondents, which translates to a net favorability rating of 19 points. He was seen as unfavourable by 30 percent. Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump had 45 percent and 43 percent of the respondents view them in a favourable way. Mr. Biden’s net favorability rating was minus 7 while Mr. Trump had a minus 10 net favorability rating.
