Joe Manchin is the LEAST popular political figure, post-Inflation Reduction Act poll suggests
By: Elizabeth Elkind, Politics Reporter For (MSN)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin is America's least favorite politician, a new poll suggests on Tuesday.
The moderate lawmaker came in dead last in an NBC News poll ranking national figures from both sides of the aisle, with just 11 percent of registered voters surveyed saying they approve of him.
Of voters polled, 34 percent expressing negative feelings about the longtime legislator.
Thirty-one percent said they did not know Manchin or their feelings toward him, more than any other name surveyed.
It comes after Republicans targeted Manchin for his role in pushing through Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act.
President Joe Biden signed the sweeping $750 billion healthcare, climate change and tax bill into law last week.
The poll was taken between August 12 and August 16, just after the bill passed the Senate and then House.
GOP lawmakers lauded Manchin earlier this year and late in 2021 after his opposition killed his colleagues' attempts at passing a much larger progressive spending package, at one point the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better package.
Biden himself is also on the list, though his approval rating is significantly higher at 40 percent - as expected for a more well-known figure to everyday Americans.
It's a higher likability rating than any other politician ranked in the poll.
His disapproval is likewise higher with 48 percent expressing negative feelings about the president.
But Biden's 8-point margin of net disapproval is also more than half Manchin's polarizing score.
While Manchin's leadership on the spending bill earned him Republican scorn, his torpedoing of key Biden agenda items such as federal voting rights legislation and the larger budget bill inspired derision from his own colleagues in Congress as well as Democrats nationwide.
It's clearly reflected in the poll's results - 40 percent of Democrats have a negative view of Manchin, while roughly three in every 10 Republican and 10 Independent voters felt the same.
Among members of his own party, the moderate senator is viewed most negatively by Democrats who supported progressive candidates for president in 2020.
A whopping 46 percent of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders voters polled suggested they dislike Manchin.
© Provided by Daily Mail Joe Manchin had both the lowest approval and disapproval ratings of any politicians ranked in NBC News' poll © Provided by Daily Mail Meanwhile President Joe Biden had the highest approval rating - though it was only 40%
That's compared to roughly a third of Biden 2020 voters, according to NBC.
Just ahead of Manchin, the least-liked figure on the list is former Vice President Mike Pence. The ex-Trump administration official is viewed positively by just a quarter of voters surveyed.
Third least-liked is January 6 committee Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney, who was recently ousted from her seat as Wyoming's lone House Representative.
The highest disapproval rating on the list belongs to Donald Trump, at 54 percent, with Biden's Vice President Kamala Harris closely behind at 50 percent.
The survey also weighs people's perceptions of the Republican and Democratic parties in general, and found that both are tied with a low 34-percent favorability rating.
The GOP is disliked by slightly fewer people, with 49 percent claiming to dislike the party compared to 51 percent saying the same about Democrats.
Americans' overall disdain for their elected officials and institutions is clear, with no entity or person on the list cracking a 50-percent approval rating.
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Manchin "won" this designation because he has pissed off both sides.
A poll clearly tainted by the 35-40% of this country would still support Joe Biden even if he was shoving a red hot poker up their #2 hole.
Which is exactly what he’s doing to this country, metaphorically speaking of course.
I do agree with you though.
Manchin should feel like a fool for getting duped and supporting Biden’s Inflation Acceleration Act only to get double screwed by Biden proposing 300-500 million in student loan forgiveness.
He is a fool.
Correction, that should be 300-500 BILLION, not million.