Nearly two-thirds of American voters surveyed say that President Donald Trump “has not been truthful” about the investigation into Russian 2016 election interference and a possible conspiracy between his campaign and Russia.
The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday morning shows a heavy partisan discrepancy, however. The poll shows the following:
- 94 percent of Democrats say they believe that President Trump has not been honest and truthful about the probe,
- 64 percent of independents say that Trump has not been honest and truthful, and
- 25 percent of Republicans agree that Trump has not been honest and truthful.
Overall, just one-third of survey respondents said they believe Trump HAS been honest and truthful, including 70 percent of Republicans, 29 percent of independents and only 5 percent of Democrats.
This is a very steep and very significant decline from a poll taken in August by NBC News that showed many more — 56 percent — registered voters believing that Trump had been honest and truthful. At that time only 38 percent of American voters disagreed, compared to 62 percent now.
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Half of the respondents in the new poll also said the Russia investigation has given them doubts about Trump’s presidency, compared to 44 percent who say it has not.
The survey was conducted approximately one month after the midterm elections on November 6. It found that many more Americans want Democrats in Congress to take the lead role in setting policy for the country, instead of Trump or Republicans.
Only 10 percent of poll respondents said that Trump “has gotten the message” that a change in direction is needed for the country. The midterms resulted in the GOP losing control of the U.S. House of Representatives but adding to its slim majority in the U.S. Senate.
Trump has bragged that, by keeping Senate control, Republicans had a great victory in the midterms, but nobody else believes that. The result is that Trump has not made “the necessary adjustments” that voters want to see.
Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who helped conduct the poll, put it this way:
“The dam has not burst on Donald Trump. But this survey suggests all the structural cracks that exist in the dam.”
By failing to “get the message” that change is needed in America, and by continuing to undermine trust by continually telling lies to the American people, Donald Trump has shown that he is not fit to be president. He apparently doesn’t even WANT to be president.
Maybe the best thing for Trump to do, as some legal experts have advised, is to resign his office and let the country move on to start undoing the damage he has caused.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
