Poll: Half of Americans say Trump is victim of a 'witch hunt' as trust in Mueller erodes

[DavidDvorkin]

Amid signs that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference may be near its conclusion, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds that trust in Mueller has eroded and half of Americans now agree with President Trump's contention that he has been the victim of a "witch hunt."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/18/trust-mueller-investigation-falls-half-americans-say-trump-victim-witch-hunt/3194049002/

This is disgusting. I hope that when or if the Mueller report is released, it will quickly change most minds.

[maxrandb]

1. Fuck USA Today

they are just barely one level above the National Enquirer, except they are more slanted toward right-wing news.

I want to see the fucking internals.

Did they oversample Dumbfuckistan, 'Murikkka?

[blm]

5. You know they always oversample Dumbfuckistan.

They HAVE to change the narrative to please the Wingnuts.

[a kennedy]

15. Yup, not one paper I put much stock in.....

[Grammy23]

2. Looks like tRump's strategy may be working.

He and his mouthpieces run out to every megaphone to spread the gospel of tRump...no collusion.

I only hope that when Mueller’s report is released that the evidence is so compelling and abundant that it is clear what is true and who is lying. Are you listening, Donald? We’re talking about YOU and your eventual down fall. It’s going to be epic.

[Glimmer of Hope]

3. That is nonsense.

[manor321]

4. Wait, is this the question they asked?

Last edited Mon Mar 18, 2019, 12:00 PM - Edit history (1)

This is a terribly phrased question;

Link to tweet

[triron]

11. Yep, but the fact that most people answered it without noticing that is quite alarming.

Shows most polled are not very good at critical thinking.

[allgood33]

23. The fact that 50% of the adult population admires the "poorly educated" indicates how far down

the rabbit holw this country has come. It appears that electing a decent, smart, and successful black man as President twice has sent the white bigoted privileged-class and their ignorant racist counter-class into a frantic tizzy of fear and loathing. I don't even recall their being this kind of reaction to 9/11 and its aftermath. We are totally fucked unless someone geta a hold on our democratic principles and garners patriotic, honest low enforcement and intelligence services to enforce the laws against corruption in high places and hate crimes in low places.

[durablend]

12. "Badly written"

More likely, looking for a certain response as validation.

Almost like "When did you stop beating your wife?"

[Gidney N Cloyd]

14. OMG, that's amateurish.

[Sneederbunk]

6. Half of a single poll says this.

[DFW]

7. USA Today has always been the Chuck Todd of newspapers

Putting on a "reasonable" face while promoting a Republican agenda.

Complicit right-oriented media outlets can pump up the expectations, or trash the whole investigation before it announces its conclusions, so as to blunt them when they are made public.

After all, they helped keep Benghazi and emails in the public eye long after it was clear there was nothing but Republican hype behind both non-issues.

[bullwinkle428]

8. Hitler's "Big Lie Theory" is clearly alive and well. For those unfamiliar,

it works like this: Repeat a ridiculous lie often enough, and loudly enough, and eventually, you'll get a significant portion of your audience to completely believe it, no matter how ridiculous it sounds.

[Baitball Blogger]

9. The report will change minds.

Ken Starr would have already leaked the information.

[JHB]

10. Because only Trump is thumping a drum on it daily

And Mueller, since he's conducting an actual investigation and not a "witch hunt", can't indulge in the Republican tactic which became standard operating procedure under Ken Starr: selective leaks to let eager media outlets lead with it day after day after day.

[renate]

16. Exactly!

So when the findings are made public, they will come as a near complete surprise to a large proportion of the public who don’t follow politics like we do. I think a lot of minds will be shocked into changing.

[JHB]

20. Some will. More will roar about how it's all fake. Others will simply stay quiet.

But in 10 years 90% of them will somehow never have supported him.

[wishstar]

13. He is trashing McCain now to more fully discredit the dossier and Russian probe

Trump's McCain attacks are strategic, not just petty and vindictive. He is trying to sway people who still have respect and admiration for McCain because they might think there are disturbing facts in the dossier that needed investigating and that the Russia probe is not just a partisan witchhunt because McCain was concerned enough to bring it to FBI and his aide wanted more publc exposure.

He thinks by influencing public opinion negatively against McCain, he can further discredit Mueller's probe and dossier to lessen the impact when damning indictments and/or conclusions are revealed.

[MyOwnPeace]

28. The local former "Scaife" right-wing rag

had a poll today asking if they approved of IQ45's latest attack on McCain. Over 30% said YES!!!!!!

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!

What kind of people are we dealing with when there is even 1 single person who sees that as something worthy of doing?

[jcmaine72]

17. That's almost the same percentage of Americans who believe in Bigfoot.

Just goes to show that Americans love their whoppers BIG.

Trump's ongoing "victimization", BTW, would've made a great "In Search of" episode. I can imagine the late great Leonard Nimoy now, perhaps standing in front of those giant stone heads on Easter island, trying to get to the bottom of this mind-numbing mystery.

[struggle4progress]

18. Probably not: attitudes have been frozen hard

MARCH 8, 2019 / 8:09 AM / 10 DAYS AGO
On Trump's ties to Russia, Americans have made up their minds: Reuters/Ipsos poll
Chris Kahn

... Eight out of 10 Americans decided almost immediately about Trump campaign ties to Moscow and only about two in 10 appear to be undecided ...

Every time respondents were asked about the investigation, about 8 in 10 Democrats said they thought the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, while 7 in 10 Republicans said they did not ...

According to the latest poll that ran Feb. 27 to March 4, 50 percent of U.S. adults believe Trump “tried to stop investigations” into his campaign, while 32 percent said he did not and 18 percent said they were not sure.

It also found that 53 percent believe the campaign “worked with Russia to influence the 2016 election,” while 32 percent do not and 15 percent said they were not sure ...

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-poll/on-trumps-ties-to-russia-americans-have-made-up-their-minds-reuters-ipsos-poll-idUSKCN1QP1E5

[DavidDvorkin]

19. I want to see other polls, but I think it's a mistake to quickly dismiss polls that we don't like

I hope this is an outlier, but I fear that it's actually showing us how well the big lie technique works in America.

[rockfordfile]

21. USA Today owner is a trump supporter

[GeorgeGist]

22. Way to go catapulters.

Keep the bullshit LIVE.

[kairos12]

24. In this boxing match Drumpt has been throwing punches for 8 or 9 rounds.

Up till now all Mueller can do is cover up. We will see what happens when Mueller gets to punch back.

[Takket]

25. I don't buy the accuracy of that poll for a second.

[Cattledog]

26. As soon as you put the word "Witch hunt" into a poll it becomes biased.

[Blue Owl]

27. Seems contrary to every other poll