December 29, 2016 - 11:03 AMT
Obama most admired by Americans, Trump is second, poll shows

In a survey released Wednesday, December U.S. President Barack Obama beat out Donald Trump as the man most admired by Americans in 2016, AFP reports.

Twenty-two percent of those surveyed by Gallup chose Obama, followed by 15 percent who chose Donald Trump. Pope Francis was a distant third with four percent.

Hillary Clinton topped the list of the most admired women in 2016, with 12 percent of Americans choosing her.

She and Obama have been at the top of the poll every year since 2008.

Trump might take solace in the fact that he has been in the top 10 rankings of the most admired men in America before — five times, in fact, with the most recent being in 2015. He first appeared among the top 10 in 1988.

Among women, Hillary Clinton has now earned the most admired spot 21 times. She first led the poll in 1993 when she was first lady.

The current First Lady Michelle Obama was the second most admired woman in 2016, with eight percent of Americans choosing her.

Also among the top five women, though far behind Obama and Clinton, were German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and former and current talk-show hosts Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres.