RFK Jr. Tops Harvard-Harris Poll for Political Figures

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., running as an independent in the 2024 presidential election, tops the list of most favored political figures in a Harvard CAPS-Harris poll released Monday.

The poll of 2,851 registered voters was taken Nov. 15-16. It showed 17% had a very favorable opinion and 35% favorable opinion of Kennedy, with just 14% holding an unfavorable view and 13% very unfavorable. His total favorability rating of 52% topped the list of 28 political figures, as well as his net rating of plus-25.

Former President Donald Trump was next with a total favorability rating of 51%, with 30% having a very favorable opinion of him, the highest total in the poll. But Trump had a total unfavorable rating of 44%, with 34% holding a very unfavorable rating of him, second-highest in the poll behind President Joe Biden (36%).

Trump’s net rating of plus-7 was eighth-highest in the poll, even behind fellow GOP presidential candidates Nikki Haley (plus-14%) and Vivek Ramaswamy (plus-8%) but ahead of Ron DeSantis (plus-6%).

Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk was third with a 47% total favorability rating, followed by Biden (46%), Vice President Kamala Harris (45%) and DeSantis (44%). But Biden and Harris each had a negative net rating, with 49% holding a total unfavorable view of Biden and 47% of Harris. DeSantis had a total unfavorable rating of 38%.

“Robert Kennedy has positioned himself to appeal to members of both parties, though it is unclear how much of his ratings are from in-depth knowledge of Kennedy vs. his popular family name,” said Mark Penn, co-director of the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll, according to The Hill.

Biden’s job approval in the poll was 45%, up 1 percentage point from last month, with 52% saying they disapproved of his performance, down 1 percentage point from October.