Being married to the most unpopular president in 21st century polling has consequences. Melania Trump is finding that out the hard way.
A YouGov survey of 2,255 U.S. adults asked respondents to rate 11 recent first ladies from outstanding to poor. Melania landed second from the bottom with a net approval rating of -16. The only first lady ranked lower was Hillary Clinton, who edged her out at -17. Not exactly the company you want to be keeping.
The numbers break down simply. 36% of respondents rated Melania as “poor” and another 10% said “below average.” Just 18% said “outstanding” and 12% “above average.”
For context, previous first ladies going back to the 1970s averaged a final popularity rating of 71%. Melania is nowhere near that.
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The contrast with other first ladies is stark. Jacqueline Kennedy pulled a net positive of +56. Michelle Obama sat at +21, with 33% rating her outstanding. Nancy Reagan came in at +25. Rosalynn Carter was similarly well regarded. These are not close races. Melania is not in the same conversation.
She is, however, in roughly the same conversation as her husband. Trump’s net rating among the same survey’s presidential rankings came in at -20, the lowest of any president evaluated. Melania at -16 and Donald at -20 are essentially a matched set, which YouGov noted directly: “Opinion of first ladies generally is politically polarized in a similar way to opinion of their husbands.”
The poll arrived alongside something else worth paying attention to. It was conducted February 2 through 5, right as Melania’s documentary “Melania: 20 Days to History” was rolling out in theaters. The film earned around $7 million in its opening weekend before dropping to $2.4 million in its second week. Critics gave it a 5% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences gave it 99%.
The divide between critical and public reception mirrors the broader polarization around everything Trump-related, including the first lady herself.
A separate Economist/YouGov poll from around the same period put Melania’s overall favorability at 41% favorable and 47% unfavorable.
In her first term, she had briefly hit 52% favorable and was consistently more popular than her husband. That gap has narrowed considerably. The Iran war, the shutdown, the bruised hands, the 7-minute summit departure, the Fake Melania theories, the Beach Boys comparisons, and a documentary that told critics nothing they did not already know have all taken their toll.
One Siena College study ranked her as the worst of 40 assessed first ladies in American history. That survey looked at scholarly assessments across multiple metrics. It was conducted in 2020. Things have not improved dramatically since.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
