New Gallup poll finds Pope Leo XIV ranks most favorable among 14 figures making headlines

Results of a new Gallup poll reveal that Americans have a much more favorable view of Pope Leo XIV than a number of other prominent U.S. and global figures.

The polling company surveyed 1,002 adults living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The margin of sampling error was 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The participants were asked from July 7–21 if they have a “favorable” or “unfavorable” opinion of 14 figures making headlines in the news.

The results of the survey found that Americans have the most positive image of Pope Leo XIV among the newsmakers, with the majority (57%) reporting they have a “favorable” perception of him.

Pope Leo also had the lowest “unfavorable” rating with only 11%, 23 percentage points behind the second most “favorable” figure, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The rest of the participants reported they are either not familiar enough with Pope Leo to have an opinion (18%) or have not heard of him (13%).

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