Polls Show Public Opinion On Trump Unchanged After Barr Summary
President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House after stepping off Marine One, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
On Sunday, Attorney General William Barr sent shockwaves through the political world when he released his summary of the key conclusions in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report. Barr claimed that Mueller found no criminal conspiracy between the Russian government and the Trump campaign and sparked controversy when he took it upon himself to clear President Trump of obstruction of justice. While many media pundits speculated that this was disastrous for Democrats and would give a reboot to the Trump presidency, the polls tell a different story.
A Politico/Morning Consult poll released on Tuesday found that President Trump’s favorability numbers were unchanged after Barr’s summary was released. Trump’s approval rating clocked in at 42% and his disapproval rating was 55%. The poll also found that 82% of registered voters want the report to be made public, 47% think President Trump tried to obstruct Mueller’s investigation, and 52% still believe Russia has compromising information on the president.
A CNN survey released on Wednesday found there are still several questions about President Trump’s legal trouble. 56% of respondents said, “the President and his campaign have NOT been exonerated, but collusion could not be proven.” 57% said they want the findings in Mueller’s report to be investigated and hearings to be held on them. The answer to one question warrants displaying the full breakdown:
On Thursday, a Quinnipiac University poll bolstered the above sentiment indicating the majority of Americans have already made up their minds about the president. The Quinnipiac poll found 53% of voters said they would “definitely not” vote for Trump in 2020, with only 30% saying they would. Perhaps most indicative of the effect of the confirmation of accused sexual abuser Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, 60% of women said they would “definitely not” vote for President Trump in 2020. This reflects what we saw during the midterm elections when suburban woman around the country turned on the president.
Also on Thursday, FiveThirtyEight reported on his steady poll numbers and a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll indicated President Trump’s approval rating was virtually unchanged from a poll they ran the month before. An NPR–PBS poll released on Friday found that only 36% of voters think Mueller cleared President Trump of any wrongdoing while 56% said they “think questions still exist about Trump.”
President Trump overlooked these polls and shared a Rasmussen poll, which is consistently an outlier.
Working hard, thank you! #MAGA pic.twitter.com/00hoL0to0u
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2019
As we’ve pointed out in our reporting multiple times this week, the most important issue to voters in the midterms was healthcare. The least important was Mueller’s investigation. If those sentiments have held true, that could be the reason Barr’s summary has landed with minimal effect on public opinion.
Judging from the polls, you would think President Trump would triangulate as previous presidents have, but that has not been the case. Instead, President Trump ordered the Justice Department to argue that Obamacare should be struck down entirely. If successful, the move would cause 21 million Americans to lose their healthcare. Trump didn’t stop there. Rather than move on from the Mueller report, Trump has created an enemies list, House Republicans have called on House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff to resign, and the Republican National Committee reportedly plans on targeting reporters who covered Trump’s very real ties to Russia with ads.
Rantt Media’s comprehensive articles source reporting from top news organizations, but they’re also built on brilliant analysis from our team. We are independently-owned and strive for quality, not clicks. But the only way to truly have a media for the people is for media to be funded by the people. We take pride in being reader-funded so that we are beholden to you, not corporate interests. If you like the work we do, please consider supporting us by signing up for a monthly subscription.
