Fox News Poll: Melania Trump's favorable ratings climb
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}First Lady of the U.S. Melania Trump smiles during her meeting with First Lady of Poland Agata Kornhauser-Duda at the Belvedere Palace in Warsaw, Poland July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh - RTX3A8XP (REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh)
As Melania Trump settles into her new role as first lady, a Fox News Poll shows a jump in her popularity.
Fifty-one percent of voters view Melania Trump favorably. That’s up 14 points since December and up 16 points from the first time the Fox News Poll asked about her last summer. At that time, 35 percent viewed the wife of the controversial candidate favorably and 40 percent unfavorably (August 2016). Twenty-four percent couldn’t rate her.
Today, 28 percent view her negatively, while one in five are unable to rate her (20 percent).
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The First Lady enjoys a surge in favorability across the board; Republicans (+24), Democrats (+12), men (+17), women (+15), voters under age 45 (+18) and ages 45 and over (+16) all view her more positively than a year ago.
More men (55 percent) than women (48 percent) have a favorable opinion of Mrs. Trump.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And Republicans (82 percent) are more than three times as likely as Democrats (26 percent) to have a positive view. Forty-three percent of independents like her.
The new First Lady, however, falls short of her predecessor Michelle Obama. Around the same time in her husband’s presidency, a record high 73 percent of voters viewed Mrs. Obama favorably (April 2009).
President Donald Trump’s personal ratings are also up -- a bit: 47 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of him. It was 44 percent in March and 38 percent just before November’s election. His current rating matches a previous high set in December 2016.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}More voters, however, view Trump unfavorably (51 percent).
Vice President Mike Pence gets net positive marks: 47 percent favorable vs. 42 percent unfavorable.
Meanwhile, leaders in the legislative branch are less popular.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}House Speaker Paul Ryan (37 percent favorable vs. 45 percent unfavorable), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (33-50 percent), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (26-35 percent) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (25-41 percent) rate lower than the president, first lady and the vice president.
The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,017 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from June 25-27, 2017. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters.