The post-election period where Republicans and President Donald Trump have opposed President-Elect Joe Biden’s victory may be tarnishing the image of one Republican in particular: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The Kentucky Senator has enjoyed enduring popularity with members of his party until recent weeks. Since then, however, McConnell’s standing with Republicans has declined as he argued against his own party’s attempt to reject the Electoral College vote — for which about a dozen GOP Senators have announced their support — and blocked a Trump-backed effort to give Americans $2000 in stimulus checks.
In early December, more than three in five Republicans approved of how McConnell was handling his job as Senate Majority Leader. In the pre-Christmas Economist/YouGov Poll, a slight majority of Republicans (52%) approved of how he was handling his job. Now only two in five (39%) do. This poll was conducted prior to Tuesday’s Senate runoff election in Georgia, in which Republicans are projected to lose at least one seat and perhaps control of the chamber.
About half of Republicans (49%) disapprove of how McConnell is handling his position, his highest level of disapproval since October 2017 during his party’s feud over healthcare.
Related: Explore Mitch McConnell’s favorability ratings among registered voters
See the toplines and crosstabs from this week’s Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The Economist survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,500 US Adult Citizens interviewed online between January 3 - 5, 2021. This sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, and education based on the American Community Survey, conducted by the US Bureau of the Census, as well as 2016 Presidential vote, registration status, geographic region, and news interest. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of all US citizens. The margin of error is approximately 3.3% for the overall sample.
Image: Getty
