Mitch McConnell sees favorability drop after break with Trump, trails far behind Schumer, McCarthy

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has seen his unfavorable ratings skyrocket in recent weeks following his public break with former President Donald Trump, according to a new Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen.

Just the News Daily Poll numbers put McConnell's current favorability at 21%. That number puts him below both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (28%) and Trump-friendly House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (25%).

The unfavorable gap between those politicians was even starker, with 62% of voters viewing McConnell negatively, while 44% felt that way about Schumer, and just 36% felt negatively about McCarthy.

National polls from the last several months have shown a major decrease in McConnell's favorability among Americans: At the time of the 2020 presidential election, an Economist/YouGov poll showed him with a 32% approval rating, while last week the same poll gave him 17% approval among voters. 

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Just the News Daily Poll

RMG Research

McConnell's sliding numbers may be due in part to a plunge in popularity among GOP voters. The Kentucky senator harshly criticized Trump following the recent Senate impeachment trial that acquitted the former president of inciting the Jan. 6 "insurrection" at the Capitol. McConnell claimed multiple times that Trump encouraged the Capitol mob, even as McConnell himself voted to acquit Trump.

The survey of 1,200 registered voters was conducted by Scott Rasmussen using a mixed mode approach from Feb. 18-20, 2021.

For cross-demographic tabulations for each politician, click the following links: Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Kevin McCarthy. 

Click here to see the poll's methodology and sample demographics.