52% of Republicans admire Donald Trump the most among Republican candidates, compared to 18% for Ronald Reagan and 8% for Abraham Lincoln.

Posted by Badlands Media, Oct 15, 2026Checked Nov 2, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 5 support
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 75%

Badlands MediaOct 15, 2026

Multiple reports of the CNN/SSRS poll (via Newsweek, Yahoo, Wonderwall, and Ground News) give 53% of Republicans naming Trump their most admired Republican president, with Reagan at 18% and Lincoln at 8%. The claim's 52% is within rounding of 53%, and the post itself says both 52% and 53%.

Our two reads of who says this, and how, disagree, so it counts as the post's own claim.

This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.

What we found

Supports. Newsweek reports that 53% of Republicans named Trump the Republican president they admire most, versus 18% for Reagan and 8% for Lincoln, citing a CNN poll conducted by SSRS.[1]

Supports. Yahoo and Wonderwall, reporting on CNN data analyst Harry Enten's segment, give the same figures: 53% for Trump, 18% for Reagan, and 8% for Lincoln.[2][3]

Supports. Voz.us and Ground News (published 2026-10-30) repeat the 53%/18%/8% figures, with Ground News attributing them to CNN and Elon University polling.[4][5]

Context. The claim's 52% differs from the 53% in every source by one point, which is rounding-level imprecision and does not change the finding.[1][2][3]