The Economist and YouGov published results of its latest polling on U.S. politics this week. One poll gauged Trump's favorability versus Lincoln, who was the U.S. president between 1861 and 1865 and who steered America through the Civil War and abolished slavery. Asked "Which Republican president was better?", 53 percent of Republicans said Trump.
That is in stark contrast to respondents who identify as Democrats and independent. 94 percent of Democrats said Lincoln was the better president, as did 78 percent of independent voters. Overall, 75 percent of poll respondents picked Lincoln compared to 25 percent for Trump. Other than Republicans, Lincoln was the choice president across all possible polling metrics—preferred by men and women, all age groups and races, as well as based on census region and household income.
The poll results confounded social media users on Friday night, prompting "53% of Republicans" to Trend across Twitter. Actor Billy Baldwin—whose brother Alec famously portrays a caricature of Trump on Saturday Night Live—tweeted: "53% of Republicans apparently don't even know who Abraham Lincoln was…"
