Putin Has Better Favorability Ratings Among Republicans Than Biden: New Polls
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has better net favorability ratings among Republicans than U.S. President Joe Biden, according to two new polls.
Will Saletan of Slate spotted the staggering numbers in a YouGov/Economist poll and a Morning Consult/Politico poll taken this week.
According to the YouGov poll, 18% of Republicans have a favorable view of Putin and 64% of Republicans have an unfavorable view.
Biden fares worse among Republicans: 14% hold a favorable view of the U.S. president while a whopping 82% hold an unfavorable view.
The Morning Consult poll tells a similar story. While 11% of Republicans surveyed have a favorable view of Putin, 67% have an unfavorable view.
Whereas 13% have a favorable view of Biden, while 85% have an unfavorable view.
Saletan’s analysis of those numbers is grim. “Trump has delivered more than the Kremlin could have asked for: He turned Americans against one another, attacked our institutions, attempted a coup, and relentlessly defended Russian aggression,” he writes. “To this day, Trump denounces our government as illegitimate. And he has built a political force that will serve Putin well in his confrontations with Biden: a Republican Party that has cooled to NATO and warmed to Russia.”
I should note, however, that Democrats also have a worse view of former President Donald Trump than they do of Putin — though the margins are slimmer.
According to the YouGov poll, 10% of Democrats have a favorable view of Putin, while 79% have an unfavorable view. When it comes to Trump, 8% have a favorable view and 89% have an unfavorable view.
According to the Morning Consult survey, 7% of Democrats view Putin favorably and 77% view him unfavorably. 9% of Democrats view Trump favorably while 89% view him unfavorably.
Those margins are tighter than those in the case of the Republicans. Putin fares better than Biden among Republicans by margins of 22 (YouGov) and 16 (Morning Consult).
Putin fares better than Trump among Democrats by margins of 12 (YouGov) and 10 (Morning Consult).
No matter how you look at it, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that domestic partisanship reigns supreme — even when it comes to murderous foreign autocrats.
