Pope Leo Most Favorably Viewed of 14 Newsmakers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Among 14 prominent U.S. and global figures, Pope Leo XIV has the most positive image by far, with many more Americans viewing him favorably than unfavorably. His 57% favorable rating and 11% unfavorable rating result in a +46 net-favorable score, far ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (+18) and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (+11).

French President Emmanuel Macron and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are each viewed about equally positively as negatively, with large percentages having no opinion of each. All other figures rated in the July 7-21 Gallup poll are viewed unfavorably on balance. This ranges from a slightly negative tilt for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (-5) to strongly negative skews for Elon Musk (-28) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (-23).

Net favorability is most effective for these comparisons because it accounts for large differences in Americans’ familiarity with the various figures, ranging from nearly universal awareness of President Donald Trump, former President Joe Biden and Musk to less than two-thirds knowing enough about Macron or Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to rate them.

Other newsmakers rated more negatively than positively are Biden (-11), Vice President JD Vance (-11), California Gov. Gavin Newsom (-11), Hegseth (-12), Trump (-16) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (-16).

Rubio’s Image Has Soured as Much as Musk’s

Favorable ratings for several current and former Trump administration officials have slipped since January. This includes Trump himself, Vance, Kennedy, Rubio and Musk, who stepped down two months ago as head of the Department of Government Efficiency and has since sparred with Trump over policy and personal matters.

The Trump officials’ image declines have been most pronounced for Musk and Rubio, who are each down 24 points in net favorability.

• Rubio shifted from a +8 net-favorable rating (41% favorable, 33% unfavorable) in January to -16 (31% favorable, 47% unfavorable) in July, a 24-point decline in net favorability. Rubio has been a key figure in shutting down the USAID program and is now leading both the Department of State and the National Security Council.
• Musk went from being viewed slightly more negatively than positively (43% favorable, 47% unfavorable) to having a nearly 2-to-1 negative image (33% favorable, 61% unfavorable). That swing from -4 to -28 net favorability is also a 24-point change.

Meanwhile, Trump, Kennedy and Vance have experienced 13- to 14-point declines in their net-favorable scores since January, stemming from four- to seven-point declines in their favorable ratings and seven- to nine-point increases in their unfavorable ratings.

While Trump officials’ images have dimmed, Biden has avoided that trajectory despite recent scrutiny of the operation of his White House. His 43% favorable rating in the latest poll is up slightly from 39% in January and is similar to his 40% to 43% readings last fall.

Pope Leo’s Rating on Par With Last Two Popes’ Debuts

Pope Leo’s 57% favorable rating is the first Gallup rating of the American-born pontiff since he was elected to his position in May. Relatively few Americans, 11%, view him unfavorably, while the rest either aren’t familiar enough with him to have an opinion (18%) or have not heard of him (13%).

These figures closely match Pope Francis’ ratings when he assumed the role in 2013, then viewed favorably by 58% and unfavorably by 10%, as well as Pope Benedict in 2005 (55% favorable, 12% unfavorable).

All three pontiffs also earned higher-than-average support from American Catholics in their initial ratings, with Leo viewed favorably by 76%, Francis by 80% and Benedict by 67%.

One way Leo differs from his predecessors is that his favorable rating is higher among liberals than conservatives (65% vs. 46%), whereas in Benedict’s and Francis’ early days as pope — in 2005 and 2013, respectively — they were each viewed more favorably by conservatives than liberals. That pattern persisted for Benedict through Gallup’s final reading on him in 2010, three years before he resigned in 2013. Francis, on the other hand, saw his popularity with conservatives wane over time to the point that by Gallup’s final reading on him, in December 2023, he was liked much more by liberals (70%) than conservatives (42%), similar to Leo’s ratings today.

Gallup did not measure U.S. public reaction to Pope John Paul II using the favorable/unfavorable question format when he became pope in 1978, only instituting it for him in 1993. From then until the end of his papacy, he was widely popular, registering between 61% and 86% favorability. In his final reading in 2005, 78% viewed him favorably, including a higher percentage of conservatives (81%) than liberals (64%).

Pope Leo Sole Figure Rated Positively by All Party Groups

Unlike the political figures measured in the latest poll, Leo is viewed more favorably than unfavorably by all party groups — although, consistent with the ideological differences in his ratings, he is liked better by Democrats than Republicans.

By contrast, seven figures are rated net positively by Republicans and net negatively by Democrats. Of these, Vance, Trump and Kennedy receive the strongest net-favorable scores from Republicans, all above +80, while Rubio earns a +62. Hegseth, Netanyahu and Musk all fall below +50. Independents join Democrats in viewing each of these Republican-oriented figures more negatively than positively, although by much smaller margins than Democrats.

The remaining six figures in the poll are rated favorably by Democrats but not Republicans. Democrats offer their strongest support to Sanders, giving him a net favorable of +75, followed by Zelenskyy, Ocasio-Cortez and Biden, each above +50. Democrats offer more muted positive ratings of Newsom and Macron.

Independents’ views of this group that is popular with Democrats is mixed, holding mildly net-positive impressions of Sanders and Zelenskyy, neutral views of Ocasio-Cortez and Macron, and modestly net-negative impressions of Biden and Newsom.

Bottom Line

Pope Leo has broad appeal in the U.S., setting him apart from public figures with clear party associations, whose images are often highly polarized. Although liked by all party groups, he gets better ratings from Democrats and liberals than Republicans and conservatives. Given the similarity to Francis’ image in his later years, this could indicate that Americans perceive Leo to be continuing Francis’ approach to religious and social questions, or that they are assuming that’s the case until shown otherwise.

Meanwhile, the dampened favorable ratings of key Trump administration officials since January are broadly consistent with the decline in Trump’s job approval rating over the same period, down 10 percentage points. However, Musk and Rubio have seen more pronounced declines in favorability than Trump, Vance or Kennedy.

Sanders stands out as a Democrat who is largely familiar to the American public, enjoys high favorability with Democrats and has at least a slightly positive image with independents. Both Ocasio-Cortez and Newsom are less well-known nationally and less well-liked, although Ocasio-Cortez is nearly as popular as Sanders among Democrats.

Stay up to date with the latest insights by following @Gallup on X and on Instagram.

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works. View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).