U.S. President Barack Obama watches as President-elect Donald Trump greets first lady Michelle Obama at Trump's inauguration ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2017. Michelle Obama and Trump were named the most admired people of 2020. File Photo by Saul Loeb/UPI |
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Dec. 29 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump edged out former President Barack Obama to be named the most admired man in 2020, and former first lady Michelle Obama continued her three-year streak as most admired woman, a Gallup poll released Tuesday said.
Eighteen percent of respondents in the annual survey said they most admired Donald Trump, while 15% chose his predecessor. This year ended Barack Obama's 12-year run as most admired man; he and Donald Trump tied as the top choice in 2019.
Rounding out the Top 10 were President-elect Joe Biden with 6%, Dr. Anthony Fauci with 3%, Pope Francis with 2%, and Elon Musk, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Bill Gates, LeBron James and the Dalai Lama with 1% each.
Donald Trump has finished in the Top 10 list 10 times.
Meanwhile, 10% of respondents said they most admired Michelle Obama, her 13th Top 10 finish.
Runner-up was Vice President-elect Kamala Harris with 6%, followed by first lady Melania Trump with 4%, Oprah Winfrey with 3%, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and British Queen Elizabeth II with 2% each, and Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Greta Thunberg with 1% each.
Gallup said that in the 74 years it's asked an open-ended question about what man they admired most, the incumbent president has topped the list. In the 71 years Gallup's asked about the most admired woman, a current or former first lady has topped the list 57 times.
The survey response was sharply divided based on political leaning, with 48% of Republicans choosing Donald Trump and 8% choosing Melania Trump as their most admired people -- the highest percentages in their respective categories. Among Democrats, 32% chose Barack Obama and 17% chose Michelle Obama.
Independents were evenly split between Donald Trump and Barack Obama at 11% each.
Eleven percent of respondents named a friend or family members as the man they most admire, while 19% named someone they knew as the woman they most admire.
Gallup conducted the survey of 1,018 adults between Dec. 1-17 with a 4% margin of error.
