'Who was the better president: George Washington or Donald Trump?': Republicans are nearly split

WASHINGTON – A plurality of Republican voters say President Donald Trump is at least as good a president as George Washington, the first man to hold the office, according to a poll from Monmouth University.

When asked "Who was a better president: George Washington or Donald Trump?" 71% of registered voters said Washington, 15% said Trump, 5% said they were tied and 9% said they didn't know.

The result was far closer among registered Republicans. Forty-four percent of GOP voters said Washington was the better president, while 37% favored Trump over the man often called the "father of the country." But another 9% said they ranked them both equally, meaning more Republicans thought Trump was at least as good a president as Washington than those who thought Washington was the better man in the office.

Ten percent of registered Republicans said they weren't sure which president was better.  

When asked whether Washington or former President Barack Obama was the better president, 58% of registered voters said Washington and 33% said Obama. 

Among Democratic voters, Obama was the clear choice as the better president; with 63% named him, compared with 29% who selected Washington. 

The Monmouth poll was conducted Dec. 4-8 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. 

Last month, an Economist-YouGov poll found a majority of Republicans thought Trump was a better president than the first member of their party to hold the office, Abraham Lincoln, 53%-47%. 

That poll also found Republicans thought Trump was better than former Presidents Dwight Eisenhower (65%-35%), George W. Bush (71%-29%), George H.W. Bush (71%-29%), Gerald Ford (82%-18%) and Richard Nixon (86%-14%). 

The only president Republicans thought was better than Trump was Ronald Reagan, 59%-41%. 

That poll was taken Nov. 24-26 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.