Kamala Harris Is Almost as Popular as Beyoncé, New Poll Shows

Vice President Kamala Harris is almost as popular as Beyoncé, a new poll shows.

Echelon Insight's April omnibus survey found that 43 percent of voters have a favorable view of Harris, while 45 percent think the same of Beyoncé. Although the vice president wasn't far behind the superstar when it comes to favorability, there were twice as many voters who held an unfavorable opinion of Harris, 52 percent to 26 percent.

Harris—the nation's first female, first Black American and first Asian-American vice president—has struggled with her approval ratings for most of the Biden presidency. Despite beginning with a 48-percent approval rating, Harris' approval took a dip in mid-September 2021, just eight months into office, and it has steadily remained underwater, polling averages from FiveThirtyEight show.

In March, a Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll found that only 35 percent of voters approve of Harris, while a survey from Suffolk University/USAToday showed only 36 percent of voters approving of her. There were 46 percent and 52 percent, respectively, who said they disapproved of the vice president.

Harris is particularly well-liked among Black voters, the new Echelon poll shows. Nearly seven-in-10 Black voters view her favorably, compared with fewer than half of Hispanic and Asian voters. Fewer than four-in-10 white voters have favorable views of Harris.

Beyoncé, likewise, is popular among Black voters, with 65 percent expressing favorable views of the singer. Support for her was above 40 percent among all other race groups. She also performed well among young voters—57 percent—and pulled support from across the political spectrum, with 63 percent of Democrats, 32 percent of Republicans and 33 percent of independents viewing her favorably. In comparison, only 9 percent of Republicans had a favorable view of Harris.

Although the two women are pretty close in favorability, more voters had a neutral opinion of Beyoncé than of Harris. While 27 percent of voters said they had heard of Beyoncé but had no opinion on her, only 5 percent said the same of Harris.

The Echelon Insights poll was conducted among 1,020 likely voters between April 12 and 14. The poll had a margin of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points.

President Joe Biden has put Harris in charge of several major efforts, including immigration and reproductive rights.

The first had been a challenge for the vice president, who faced fierce criticism from the GOP after Biden tapped her as his border Czar amid the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Republicans have attacked Harris for not making a trip to the border during the early days of her tenure, accused her of being evasive in her public comments and took issue with her effectiveness in addressing the root causes of migration.

Abortion and reproductive rights, however, has been a stronger platform for Harris. She has traveled across the nation to act as the White House representative on the issue, which has proven to be a winning strategy for Democrats in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision. Harris' vocal advocacy for expanding those rights has even earned praise from some Republicans, like former Trump White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who commended Harris for her "powerful" interview on The View earlier this year.

"[Harris] is on a show whose audience is mainly women. She brought up abortion again and again and again," McEnany said on Fox News show Outnumbered. "Even when she was given low-hanging fruit — she was asked about January 6th and 91 indictments against Trump — she pivoted right back to abortion, because she knows what is true: The GOP has lost every single abortion ballot initiative post-Roe. Every single one."