President-Elect Joe Biden has a higher favorability rating in the latest Gallup poll than President Donald Trump has had at any point of his presidency.
The poll released Nov. 30 shows Biden with a 55% favorability compared to 42% for Trump. That's a six percent increase for Biden and a three percent decline for Trump since the final poll Gallup took before the election.
Despite having favorable opinion by a majority of Americans post-election, this is not Biden's best number from Gallup. He had a 59% favorability just after the 2008 election when he won the vice presidency and had a 61% approval rating in early 2017 before dropping to 56% in 2019. And he was below 40% in 2014 and early 2015.
Gallup's historical data shows Trump never reached 50% favorability while in the oval office. His high-water mark was 49%, which he reached in January and again in both March and May of this year. Around the same time, Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate was underway and the U.S. was in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, respectively.
Trump's lowest rating came in December 2017, just prior to signing his signature legislation -- a $1.5 trillion tax cut.
The post-election numbers for Trump are also the lowest favorability rating for the runner-up in a presidential contest in the past 20 years, according to Gallup's poll. Hillary Clinton's favorability was 43% after the 2016 election (Trump was at 42% after winning); Mitt Romney was at 50% in 2012; Sen. John McCain was at 64% in 2008; Gallup did not have a number on Sen. John Kerry after the 2004 election; and Vice President Al Gore had 57% favorability in 2000.
