White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, yet again, claimed that most Americans don’t care about the Russia investigation during the daily press briefing on Monday.
When asked if Donald Trump had plans to mention the Russia probe during his first State of the Union address scheduled for Tuesday night, Sanders said:
I think we’ve addressed it every single day that we’ve been here. It’s one of the questions you guys ask over and over and over again. In fact, we spend more time on that than we do any other topic, despite the fact that time and time again, poll after poll says that frankly no one cares about this issue, and it’s certainly not the thing that keeps people up at night. We’d love to talk about all of the things that do, and my guess is that will be the focus of the president’s State of the Union tomorrow.
The White House has been trying to push the narrative that no one outside the media cared about the Russia probe since Trump took office, insisting that the public cares more about “everyday” issues like jobs and taxes.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Yet, contrary to what the press secretary said, most polls actually show that Americans not only think the investigation is important, most approve of the probe and believe Special Counsel Robert Mueller should be allowed to carry it out to completion.
Our @margbrennan asks @PressSec if the president will address ongoing Russia probe in tomorrow’s address:
“No one cares about this issue and it is not the thing that keeps people up at night.†https://t.co/bjbQKpQEKm pic.twitter.com/LDh3tnj2fj
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 29, 2018
A December poll conducted by the Associated Press and NORC shows that only 37% of the public thinks the Russia investigation is either slightly important or not important at all; 38% believe it is very or extremely important, while 24% said it is moderately important. That means 62% of the public thinks the Russia issue is of at least moderate concern, which is definitely not in line with the White House’s insistence that “no one cares.”
This same poll also found that 63% of Americans believe Trump tried to obstruct justice with his attempts to interfere with the probe.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll from earlier this month found that 58% of Americans approve of the probe. Another poll from this month by PBS News Hour, NPR, and Marist found that two thirds of Americans think Mueller should be allowed to complete his investigation.
Huckabee Sanders didn’t bother to name the specific polls she mentioned in her answer, probably because, other than the occasional outlier confirming the White House’s narrative, most surveys show the opposite of what she claims.
