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U.S. Opinion on Pence Remains Divided.

Document Cited in Related
Vincent

Byline: Justin McCarthy

Synopsis: Americans remain as likely to view Vice President Mike Pence favorably (43%) as unfavorably (42%), while about one in six (16%) have no opinion of him.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans remain as likely to view Vice President Mike Pence favorably (43%) as unfavorably (42%), while 16% have no opinion of him -- a trend that hasn't changed since Pence took office in January 2017.

The latest ratings are from Gallup's annual Governance poll, conducted Sept. 4-12.

Pence was unknown by nearly two-thirds of the country when Gallup first asked about him in July 2016, after then-candidate Donald Trump announced the Indiana governor as his running mate. Pence's high unfamiliarity resulted in an overall favorable rating of 18% at the time.

But over the course of the presidential campaign, both Pence's favorable and unfavorable ratings grew as he became better known to Americans. In a poll conducted immediately before the 2016 election, 46% of Americans viewed Pence favorably and 32% unfavorably. In the same poll, Trump had a 34% favorable rating and a 62% unfavorable rating. While Trump's favorable rating improved after he won the election and is now similar to Pence's, the vice president's unfavorable rating continues to be much lower than Trump's.

Both men have averaged 42% favorable ratings since their inauguration in January 2017. But Pence's rating is better on a net basis (favorable minus unfavorable ratings) given an average 42% unfavorable rating (accompanied by 16% no opinion), compared with an average 56% unfavorable rating for Trump (and 2% no opinion).

Gallup historically has measured Americans' opinions of presidents far more than their opinions of vice presidents. As a rule, Americans are much more likely to say they have no opinion of the vice president, while relatively few have no opinion of the president.

A review of the average image ratings for the past four presidents and vice presidents shows a mixed pattern.

Barack Obama had a slightly higher net...

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