No prominent politician is liked by the nation – but JD Vance scores the highest, poll finds

No American politician with the potential to launch a presidential campaign in 2028 currently has a favorability rating above 50 percent, a new poll has found.

Vice President JD Vance, President Donald Trump’s most obvious successor at the head of the MAGA movement, scored highest in the latest survey from Emerson College Polling on just 46 percent, with another 41 percent of respondents viewing him unfavorably, and a further 13 percent unsure.

South Africa-born tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has never held elected office, was ranked second on 40 percent. However, a larger 46 percent of people said they took a dim view of his theoretical candidacy, with just 14 percent unsure.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson scored a 35 percent favorability rating, but another 28 percent of respondents said they were unsure or had not heard of him and a further 38 percent actively disliked him.

The Democratic governors of Pennsylvania and California, Josh Shapiro and Gavin Newsom, came next on 33 percent each, with more people disliking Newsom than Shapiro (44 percent to 27 percent) but fewer voters having heard of the latter (40 percent were unsure of Shapiro, compared to 24 percent for Newsom).

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Two progressive Democrats, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Big Apple’s new mayor Zohran Mamdani, were next.

AOC had 32 percent of respondents in her favor, 44 percent against and 24 percent unsure, while Mamdani had a 26 percent favorability rating, 42 percent unfavorability, and left 32 percent of people unsure.

Having only taken office this month, the jury may still be out on Mamdani’s credibility at this juncture.

The only other conservative to make the top eight was Marjorie Taylor Greene, the former Georgia congresswoman who retired earlier this month after a bitter falling out with Trump.

Greene’s favorability rating of 17 percent was dwarfed by the 50 percent of respondents who disapproved of her. Another third were unsure of her.

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Neither Kamala Harris nor her 2024 running mate, embattled Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, made the countdown.

The same poll also looked at the current occupant of the White House and put his job approval rating at 41 percent, compared to a 50 percent disapproval, noting that those numbers had flipped from where they were in January 2025 when Trump first returned to the Oval Office.

Emerson asked its survey respondents to give the president a grade of A to F, school report-style, on a number of key issues, with immigration proving his best subject.

Trump was given an A by 37 percent of people, a B by 10 percent, a C by 8 percent, a D by 9 percent, and an F by 36 percent.

On the economy, 22 percent gave him an A while 36 percent marked him F. On affordability, 17 percent handed him an A but 38 percent gave him an F. Healthcare was considered his worst discipline, with just 14 percent giving him top marks and, again, 38 percent consigning him to detention.