Pope Leo Is Winning the Newsmakers Popularity Contest

Sorry, Volodymyr—Pope Leo XIV is a bit more popular than you. Gallup has a new survey out listing the favorability ratings for more than a dozen prominent US and world luminaries, and the new pontiff comes in at No. 1, with a 57% favorable rating (11% unfavorable, 31% no opinion/never heard of the person). Gallup notes that the two popes before Leo did similarly well during their debut years, with Pope Francis earning a 58% favorable rating in 2013 (10% unfavorable), and Pope Benedict seeing 55% favorability in 2005 (12% unfavorable). Coming in last among the 14 newsmakers included in the survey: Elon Musk, with a 61% unfavorable rating (33% favorable); just 6% had no opinion of the Tesla CEO. Check out how the others on the list did:

1. Pope Leo XIV; 57% favorable, 11% unfavorable, 31% no opinion
2. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; 52% favorable, 34% unfavorable, 14% no opinion
3. Sen. Bernie Sanders; 49% favorable, 38% unfavorable, 14% no opinion
4. French President Emmanuel Macron; 30% favorable, 31% unfavorable, 39% no opinion
5. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; 34% favorable, 38% unfavorable, 28% no opinion
6. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy; 42% favorable, 47% unfavorable, 10% no opinion
7. Former President Biden; 43% favorable, 54% unfavorable, 3% no opinion
8. Vice President JD Vance; 38% favorable, 49% unfavorable, 13% no opinion
9. California Gov. Gavin Newsom; 30% favorable, 41% unfavorable, 28% no opinion
10. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; 26% favorable, 38% unfavorable, 37% no opinion
11. President Trump; 41% favorable, 57% unfavorable, 2% no opinion
12. Secretary of State Marco Rubio; 31% favorable, 47% unfavorable, 22% no opinion
13. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu; 22% favorable, 59% unfavorable, 19% no opinion
14. Elon Musk; 33% favorable, 61% unfavorable, 6% no opinion

Read more analysis here.