Ronald Reagan's 1980 bid for the White House has been compared to Donald Trump's run for president — but a column published by
Gallup dismisses the idea by focusing on what writers Frank Newport and Lydia Saade call Trump's "extraordinarily negative image —as of today, 63 percent unfavorable compared with 32 percent favorable among the general population. "
"Poll evidence shows that at this time in the 1980 campaign year, Reagan's image was significantly more positive than Trump's image is at the same time in the 2016 campaign," Gallup reports.
The writers noted that current parallels drawn between Trump and Regan rely on misinformation such as at tweet by commentator Ann Coulter, who "cited an April 15, 1980, Washington Post article written by Bill Peterson, which in turn cited in its final paragraph a March 25, 1980, Los Angeles Times poll showing Reagan's favorable image at 30 percent... to bolster the hypothesis that Trump is merely following in Reagan's hallowed footsteps."
The writers said they were unable to find any record of polls show Reagan with a 30 percent favorability at that time.
In fact, they said, "Gallup's 10-point 'scalometer' method of measuring favorability found 70 percent of Americans viewing Reagan positively in May and August of 1980."
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