A slim majority of Democrats now say they have a favorable opinion of former President George W. Bush, according to a new poll.
The Economist/YouGov poll asked nearly 1,5000 respondents whether they have a "favorable or an unfavorable opinion" of the former Republican president. Overall, 53 percent said they have either a very favorable or a somewhat favorable opinion of Bush.
Unsurprisingly, Republicans have the highest opinion of Bush. Thirty-two percent said they have a very favorable opinion, while 44 percent have a somewhat favorable opinion.
But surprisingly, a majority of Democrats have a favorable opinion of the 43rd president. Fifty-one percent said they have a favorable opinion of Bush, including 14 percent with a very favorable opinion.
Former President Barack Obama has the same overall popularity as Bush, with 53 percent saying they have a favorable opinion. But Obama also enjoys less bipartisan support; only 19 percent of Republicans said they have an at least somewhat favorable opinion of him.
The high marks for Bush come days after he implicitly criticized the politics of current Republican President Donald Trump during a speech in New York City.
"We've seen nationalism distorted into nativism, forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America," Bush said. "We see a fading confidence in the value of free markets and international trade, forgetting that conflict, instability, and poverty follow in the wake of protectionism."