When BBC Newsbeat tweeted that people were starting to compare GOP front runner Donald Trump with the wizarding world’s greatest villain, Dark Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling leapt to defend him…Voldemort, that is:
How horrible. Voldemort was nowhere near as bad. https://t.co/hFO0XmOpPH
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 8, 2015
Let’s leave aside for a moment the fact that comparing Donald Trump, abrasive as he is, to a homicidal maniac who advocates the genocide of all Muggles isn’t exactly apples to apples. Does she have a point about Trump being less well regarded than the Dark Lord? A Washington Post study of favorability ratings from this summer suggests…yes! In fact, if he decided to run, Voldemort would likely be in the middle of the current presidential pack:
…You’ll recall that Voldemort killed Harry Potter’s parents, fed his enemies to a giant snake, and tortured and killed muggles just for fun. But he’s still polling better than Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Rick Santorum, Chris Christie and Donald Trump.
So, is it time for Voldemort to throw his hat in the ring? Probably not. Unfortunately for him the WaPo poll suggests the three real dark horses in the race are the Terminator, Darth Vader, and Jaws the Shark, who came in first, second, and third, respectively, and have favorability ratings that blow everyone else (including Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders) out of the water. Sadly, America just doesn’t seem ready for a Death Eater candidacy yet.
Nick Arnold is a researcher for the American Principles Project.
