It’s 9 p.m., and it seems as though the stream of trick-or-treaters has finally subsided. You begin flicking off the lights and putting away the unclaimed candy. Outside, the murmurs of chattering children and sounds of their shuffling feet have faded away, leaving only an occasional rustling of leaves.
You’ve settled onto your couch when — BAM BAM BAM — there’s a pounding at the door. Startled, you make your way over to greet the latecomer. As you approach, you notice that the shadow landing on the window is that of an adult, not a child. Now nervous, you turn on the porch light — serving only to cast the visitor’s face in shadow when you open the door.
And there they stand: the public figure you would least want to visit your house.
Which public figure is that? Well, it depends on who you are.
Over the course of the past two months, the polling firm YouGov has asked Americans their views of dozens of public figures, from television hosts to international leaders to prominent American politicians and their families. Operating under the belief that viewing someone “strongly unfavorably” yields an emotional response similar to sticking your hand into a box labeled “brains” (cold, cooked spaghetti), we took the favorability ratings of those public figures and ranked them according to several demographic factors: gender, age and political party.
And here they are, the public figures included in YouGov’s polling who you would least like to have visit your door on Halloween. (Note: The emoji charts are generated randomly; they are not intended to be commentary.)
Show the most unsettling visitors for everyonemenwomenGen ZmillennialsGen Xboomers and olderDemocratsindependentsRepublicans
Some of those included in the polling don’t appear on the least-liked lists for any demographic group. Often that’s because people don’t really care about the figure — or don’t know enough about them to have an opinion. Most people don’t have an opinion about Fox News’s late-night host Greg Gutfeld, for example, almost certainly because they’ve never seen him offer up one of his “jokes.”
It is also possible that there is a public figure you’d like to see at your door less than any political figure included on this list. Or that your own personal views differ from that of your collective demographic. This is how public opinion works.
In that case, simply imagine that more horrifying individual showing up at your house unannounced, asking for your email so that you can be sent fundraising emails or offering you informational material about their pet causes.
Politicians and their ilk can, in fact, be truly frightening.
