Donald Trump is the most unpopular major presidential candidate in more than 30 years of ABC-Washington Post polling, with two-thirds of Americans reporting an unfavorable view of the GOP front-runner in a survey released Thursday.
Sixty-seven percent of Americans said they view Mr. Trump unfavorably, compared to 31 percent who reported a favorable view in the ABC News-Post poll. That’s slightly ahead of a 71 percent unfavorable rating Mr. Trump hit in a poll almost a year ago.
Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who received no GOP delegates in his 1992 presidential run, was viewed unfavorably by 69 percent of Americans in an ABC/Post poll in February 1992.
Former President George H.W. Bush had a 53 percent unfavorable rating in July 1992 — the election-year high for a Republican nominee since 1984. Among Democratic nominees, Walter Mondale’s 49 percent in October 1984 was the highest election-year unfavorable rating, though President Obama hit 50 percent in December 2011.
Still, 56 percent of Republicans said they have a favorable opinion of Mr. Trump, with 42 percent saying they have an unfavorable view.
Sen. Ted Cruz, Mr. Trump’s top GOP rival, was viewed unfavorably by 53 percent of respondents — up 10 points since January to a new high. Thirty-six percent said they had a favorable view of Mr. Cruz.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich had an even 39 percent/39 percent favorable/unfavorable split.
Among Republicans, 58 percent had a favorable view of Mr. Cruz and 38 percent had an unfavorable one, while Mr. Kasich had a 47 percent/40 percent favorable/unfavorable split.
In an ABC-Post poll released last month, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton had a negative 46 percent/52 percent split overall.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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