Gallup Summary:
- At 41%, Clinton’s favorable rating is unchanged since before Election Day
- Her flat ratings buck the trend of post-election boost for losing candidates
Americans are no more likely to view Hillary Clinton favorably than they were before last year’s presidential election. Forty-one percent have a favorable view of the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, within the 41% to 43% range Gallup has recorded since November.
The latest poll, conducted June 7-11, finds that a majority of Americans continue to view Clinton unfavorably (57%), as they have in all Gallup polls on the former first lady and U.S. senator since January 2016.
After retreating from public view following her loss in November, Clinton has re-emerged — tweeting, speaking at a college graduation, and attending a Broadway musical where she and her husband received a standing ovation.
Some appearances by the two-time presidential candidate have not been as well-received, however. In an interview last month, Clinton blamed her election loss on various factors, including weak Democratic Party infrastructure, mishandlings of an investigation by former FBI Director James Comey and biased media coverage of her campaign. Though she claimed to “take responsibility for every decision” her campaign made, many viewed her comments as shirking blame for her loss.
Meanwhile, Clinton remains a target of President Donald Trump, who continues to tweet about her months after he defeated her in the election — including last week, when he rehashed many of the criticisms lobbed at Clinton during the campaign.
Clinton’s current favorable rating is just a few percentage points higher than her all-time low — 38%, last recorded in late August/early September 2016. Gallup has measured Americans’ opinions of Clinton since 1992, finding substantial variation over time. She received her highest favorable rating of 67% in December 1998 while serving as first lady, just after the House of Representatives voted to impeach her husband, President Bill Clinton. She also received two 66% ratings in 2011 and 2012 during her tenure as secretary of state.