The poll, released Monday and provided to The Hill, found that 52 percent of respondents said they had a favorable opinion of Kennedy, while 27 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of him. Kennedy also had the highest net favorability rating at 25 percent.
Kennedy polled significantly higher than second-place former President Trump in terms of net favorability. While Trump was rated favorably by 51 percent of respondents, his net favorability rating was a 7, and 44 percent of respondents said they had an unfavorable opinion of the Republican leader. When asked about his opinion of President Biden, 49 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of the president, while 46 percent of respondents thought the opposite. The president received a net favorability rating of just two points.
“Robert Kennedy is positioning himself to appeal to members of both parties, although it is unclear to what extent his rating is based on intimate knowledge of his views rather than his popular name,” said Mark Penn, co-author of the poll. from Harvard. His uncle, President John Kennedy, was also ahead of other candidates of her era in favorability ratings. The poll results come after Robert Kennedy Jr., who announced his 2024 presidential campaign in April, said last month that he would switch his presidential candidacy from a Democratic candidate to an independent.