In a new Gallup poll, Pope Leo XIV topped the ranking of world figures with the highest level of support among Americans – +46. For comparison: Volodymyr Zelenskyy has +18, and Elon Musk has a deep anti-rating of -28. The results surprised even political analysts. This is reported by Gallup, writes UNN.
Details
According to a Gallup study (July 7–21, 2025), Pope Leo XIV leads the sympathy rating among 14 world leaders – his 57% positive evaluations and only 11% negative ones give a net approval of +46 – the highest in the poll.
In second place is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with +18, though with a significantly smaller lead over opponents. US Senator Bernie Sanders achieved +11. Others are in the negative: Elon Musk suffered a significant loss of trust with -28, and Marco Rubio – -16.
Pope Leo is the only figure who has positive support across all US political groups: Democrats, Republicans, and independents – although he is best perceived by liberals (65%) and Democrats; among conservatives, support is lower – 46%. This is rare in the current political climate, where even the most well-known politicians divide society.
Americans’ political sympathies are clearly divided along party lines: most figures associated with the Republican Party receive favorable ratings only from Republicans, while Democrats mostly criticize them.
Specifically, the highest positive ratings among Republican voters were received by J.D. Vance, Donald Trump, and Robert F. Kennedy – each with over 80 points of support. Senator Marco Rubio, though trailing, also receives significant approval – +62. In contrast, figures such as Pete Hegseth, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Elon Musk have lower indicators – less than +50 even among Republican Party supporters.
Independent voters, though not as critical as Democrats, mostly join the latter in their skepticism towards most Republican figures. However, their assessments are less polarized, indicating a more moderate approach.
On the other hand, there is an opposite trend. Among the six figures whom Gallup’s study primarily rated favorably among Democrats, Bernie Sanders leads – with an impressive net rating of +75. He is followed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and President Joe Biden – all with over +50 support among Democrats.
It is also interesting that Pope Leo acts more as a unifying figure – similar to Francis, whose rating in the first months of his pontificate was similar (58% positive, 10% negative). Among American Catholics, his rating is even higher: 76% report a positive attitude.
Recall
The poll showed that most Trump voters support a tough stance on Russia. This is due to Russia’s unwillingness to conduct serious peace negotiations in Ukraine.