Bernie Sanders
Former Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks during a Capitol Hill rally to promote a people's agenda and a common commitment to stepping up grassroots mobilizations for economic and social justice and equality in Washington, D.C., Nov. 17, 2016. Reuters

As Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders takes on a more public profile with numerous appearances and a scathing critique of President Donald Trump’s administration, he retained his position as the United States' most popular senator, according to a new poll released Tuesday.

Sanders lost out the Democratic nomination for president to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last year, but has been vocal about many policies that featured on his presidential agenda, including the rights of the middle class and free college, among others.

Read: Bernie Sanders Slams Trump's Airstrike On Syria

His socialist outlook was appealing to a large section of society, especially the youth, earning him an approval rating of 75 percent in his home state of Vermont. The Morning Consult poll released Tuesday assessed the job performance of senators by asking over 85,000 registered voters across the country to evaluate their senators for the period between January and March 2017.

However, Sanders saw a dip in his approval over the past few months as a similar poll in September 2016 put the percentage of people approving of him at 87 percent. Along with the 12 percent fall, the liberal’s disapproval was up to 21 percent in the latest poll, nine percent higher than in September.

The Senate’s majority leader and Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell remained the least popular senator, according to the poll, with only 44 percent of Kentucky voters approving of him, compared to the 47 percent who disapproved. There has been some improvement in his approval ratings since September last year when only 39 percent approved of him, while 51 percent did not.

Among the senators with the highest rates of approval, Sanders was followed by fellow Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, Republican Sens. John Barrasso and Michael Enzi, and independent Sen. Angus King.

In the list of most unpopular senators, McConnell was followed by fellow Republican Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Claire McCaskill.

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