House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is the most popular congressional leader compared to others — including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), a Politico/Morning Consult survey released this week found.
The survey asked respondents to rate the favorability of key congressional leaders and found Americans’ opinions souring.
Schumer, for example, has a net negative rating of -15 — 43 unfavorable to 28 percent favorable. McConnell fares even worse with a net negative rating -32. A majority, 54 percent, find him unfavorable compared to 22 percent who view him favorably.
Meanwhile, a majority, 55 percent, find Pelosi unfavorable, compared to 32 percent who view her otherwise, giving her a net negative rating of -23. While Minority Leader McCarthy also has a net negative approval of -6 percent, it is the smallest net negative of the group, making him the most popular among the group. Fifty-one percent view him unfavorably, compared to 45 percent who view him favorably.
Notably, the survey also showed President Joe Biden with an underwater approval rating of -6. Vice President Kamal Harris saw a net negative rating as well: -10, or 50 percent unfavorable to 40 percent favorable.
The survey, taken December 18-20, 2021, among 1,998 registered voters, has a margin of error of +/- 2 percent.
The poll coincides with the recent defeat of Biden’s multitrillion-dollar Build Back Better Act, which Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) effectively killed this week.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress have directed attention toward Biden’s overreaching vaccine mandates. The Senate recently voted 52-48 in favor of repealing Biden’s federal vaccine mandate, and the measure has backing from the entire House GOP conference.