Bad News, Everyone: No Politician Fares Well in Latest NBC Poll, But Joe Manchin Is In a Different League

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A new NBC News poll spells bad news for President Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and others, but the news is especially bad for Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who appears equally unpopular on both sides of the political aisle.

In a poll released Tuesday, NBC News measured the popularity of American politicians and found respondents have mostly negative views of all of them.

Biden received 40 percent positive reactions compared to 48 percent negative, while Trump earned 36 percent positive responses compared to 54 percent negative. Some voters didn’t have strong feelings toward either, with 12 percent saying they are neutral on Biden and 10 percent neutral toward Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Mike Pence were also names thrown out in the poll. Harris scored a 32 percent positive mark among respondents, but 50 percent also said they have a negative view of her. Pence scored a lower positive rating (25 percent) and negative rating (44 percent). Another 15 percent of respondents were neutral on Harris, while 27 percent were neutral on Pence.

Manchin, however, is in a category all to himself. Just 11 percent said they had a positive view of the moderate Democrat, who has often been viewed as Democrats’ biggest stumbling block in trying to pass legislation through the Senate.

Only 34 percent in the poll said they had a negative view of the West Virginia senator, but NBC noted that this was a fairly even mix across Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, with 40 percent in his own party, 31 percent of Republicans, and 30 percent of Independents holding a negative view of him.

Broken down more specifically, only one percent said they had a “very positive” view of Manchin, 10 percent hold a “somewhat positive” view, while 20 percent hold a “somewhat negative” opinion and 14 hold a “very negative” opinion. Manchin may not be as recognizable by name as Biden or Trump, however, as 10 percent said they were neutral, while a over a third said they weren’t sure one way or the other.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who recently lost her primary battle against Trump-backed opponent Harriet Hageman, was also included in the poll. Just 28 percent said they view her in a positive light, while 34 percent had a negative view. Another 20 percent were neutral while 18 percent said they weren’t sure about the Republican.

The margin of error for the NBC poll is 3.1 percent, according to the poll’s summary. The poll was taken among 1,000 registered voters, three-quarters of whom participated by phone.