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

[DonViejo]

Source: USA Today



Susan Page and Deborah Barfield Berry, USA TODAY Published 9:14 a.m. ET March 18, 2019

WASHINGTON – 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."

Support for the House of Representatives to seriously consider impeaching the president has dropped since last October by 10 percentage points, to 28 percent.

Despite that, the survey shows a nation that remains skeptical of Trump's honesty and deeply divided by his leadership. A 52 percent majority say they have little or no trust in the president's denials that his 2016 campaign colluded with Moscow in the election that put him in the Oval Office.

But that number does reflect an improvement from previous polls. One year ago, 57 percent had little or no trust in his denials; in December, 59 percent did.

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

[sakabatou]

1. Half of America are Trump cult members

I mean, wtf?!

[olegramps]

43. I have to know exactly what was asked and how it was asked to believe one word of it.

[SunDrop23]

47. My thoughts exactly. (nfm)

[lagomorph777]

65. I think from now on, I'm ignoring any poll that doesn't publish their script.

Waste of my time when I know even a little about the games pollsters can play.

There are still lots of other secret factors we will never hear about: how the sample is taken, inflection coaching for the phone bankers, response rate, to name a few.

[trueblue2007]

68. the poll is a waste of time. This Poll is towards the GOP. Why did the OP post it?

LAGOMORPH is 10000& correct:

I think from now on, I'm ignoring any poll that doesn't publish their script.
Waste of my time when I know even a little about the games pollsters can play.

There are still lots of other secret factors we will never hear about: how the sample is taken, inflection coaching for the phone bankers, response rate, to name a few.

[lagomorph777]

81. ...and the truth emerged this morning.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211933129

https://www.vox.com/2019/3/18/18271441/trump-tweet-usa-today-suffolk-poll-mueller-witch-hunt

The president capitalizes on a poorly framed question in an outlier poll.

But the poll question on which that headline rests is seriously flawed. The question reads as follows: “President Trump has called the Special Counsel’s investigation a ‘witch hunt’ and said he’s been subjected to more investigations than previous presidents because of politics. Do you agree?”

It’s true that 50.3 percent of the poll’s 1,000 respondents said “yes” to that question. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they believe the Mueller investigation is a “witch hunt.” The prompt packs two different questions into one — a poor strategy for a poll question. Respondents simply may have meant to agree that Trump has been “subjected to more investigations than previous presidents because of politics” — a controversial but defensible position — without intending to go further and indicate they think Trump is the victim of a “witch hunt.”

[lagomorph777]

82. USA Today got caught cheating, and it's exactly what we suspected.

Trump uses bad poll question to claim half of America thinks Mueller’s on a “witch hunt”
The president capitalizes on a poorly framed question in an outlier poll.

...But the poll question on which that headline rests is seriously flawed. The question reads as follows: “President Trump has called the Special Counsel’s investigation a ‘witch hunt’ and said he’s been subjected to more investigations than previous presidents because of politics. Do you agree?”

It’s true that 50.3 percent of the poll’s 1,000 respondents said “yes” to that question. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they believe the Mueller investigation is a “witch hunt.” The prompt packs two different questions into one — a poor strategy for a poll question. Respondents simply may have meant to agree that Trump has been “subjected to more investigations than previous presidents because of politics” — a controversial but defensible position — without intending to go further and indicate they think Trump is the victim of a “witch hunt.”

https://www.vox.com/2019/3/18/18271441/trump-tweet-usa-today-suffolk-poll-mueller-witch-hunt

[PatSeg]

48. I'm not buying it

These polls are getting more and more ridiculous all the time. I can see some people not actually paying attention to what is happening, but I seriously doubt that 50% of Americans think Trump is a friggin' victim of a witch hunt.

Maybe 50% of the people stupid enough to answer calls from people they don't know on their landline phones, that I might believe.

[onit2day]

53. Me neither. His guilt is obvious

[whathehell]

76. I agree -- Polls continually show most Americans as having

more faith in Democrats and the Mueller investigation than Trump.

[lark]

55. No, it's about 33-1/3% that are profound trumplodytes, another roughly 16% are just stupid.

They would be swayed by videos of him trading the presidency for siding with Russia and for buying russian steel. Especially when the model "he chose" or really was told to choose for the wall is based on steel only made by Deripaska. 33-1/3% are Nazis, KKK, white nationalists, traitors, big pharma, oil oligarchs and total white collar criminals and they want him in office be office so they can personally cash in and because they hate democracy and diversity and the working class.

[SHRED]

2. Did half feel the same way about Hillary investigations?

If not then why not?

[Botany]

3. I don't buy this ... I smell right wing spin.

Maybe a % of Americans still support Trump and know down deep that he is guilty as hell
but they do not want to see the truth because it makes them uncomfortable.

[ArizonaLib]

6. Susan Page is full of it

I Stopped listening to NPR on Friday mornings because it got to be too much. She's big time right wing spin. Funny how when Trump has a bad couple of weeks and a bad weekend, 'confidence in Mueller erodes'.

[lagomorph777]

7. There are many tricks pollsters can use to influence responders.

Plus, they don't really reach millenials or younger people, due to call blocking, cellphone-only users.

I think the Blue Wave in November gives the lie to this poll.

[sandensea]

40. +1

And we all know USA Today's reputation: Faux News-lite.

[MBS]

18. I sure hope you're right.

Otherwise, it's too depressing a conclusion.
Hopefully, as the House continues its investigations, and more and more of this sordid story is made public, this profound misconception will fade.
Various people have been reminding all of us how quickly opinions on Watergate and Nixon changed once the tape was out-

[INdemo]

23. Dont buy into this BS

All a right wing Corporate News Media owner needs is for 4 people on a street corner polled and they call it fact
In this case 2 out of the four were Trump Fascists.

[machoneman]

20. Hard to believe this poll. I think...

any other poll with even slightly different questions may have radically different responses. I'm not even saying it was a 'push' poll (designed to elicit answers the pollster wants) but....

It's odd indeed that asking in the very first question if Mueller's probe can be trusted can and will have an effect compared to what the replies would have been if the first few questions had been about Trump, his trustworthiness, etc. It's a common practice to mix these questions up each time (if not every time) to try and eliminate bias. Consider: in the very same poll, a separate or a series of separate questions about Trump's 'ratings' were quite bad.

Once again, I wouldn't put too much stock in this poll as experts pollsters will ask these same questions (in different ways, over time, with different respondents) in order to detect a trend and determine just how 'proof-positive' said answers will be.

[yonder]

44. Something smells fishy here, 50%? just doesn't feel right.

[lancelyons]

50. See my post below. It is being taken out of context

[dawg day]

51. I agree with you

The great majority of Americans "disapprove" of Trump. This poll sounds really wrong. More than half the country disapproves of him and yet more than half thinks this is a witchhunt? How many halves are there?

[ChicagoRonin]

4. I don't think a majority of Americans are Trump cultists, but . . .

I think my brother and sister-in-law are good examples of a lot of folks.

They're both nice, friendly, decent people. They work respectable jobs. Have one child (a daughter) and are loving parents. They own a house in the suburbs that's a tad too large and too expensive for their means, but got help from family. Bills stress them but they're luckily not on the edge in any way (no major debts, no serious medical conditions, etc.). They aren't devout Christians but go on holidays.

Politically though they seem completely clueless. To the best of my knowledge, they don't read newspapers or even watch much cable news (except sports). They travel a lot for vacations (even abroad), but largely stick to tourist-safe stuff and are not particularly adventurous. They have a passing knowledge of stuff like ongoing wars, climate change, etc. but could never discuss it in detail and definitely aren't involved in any activism or advocacy in any way.

They are not Republicans or conservatives, but I wouldn't call them Democrats either. They'd vote for whoever seems okay to them at the time based upon the limited range of their knowledge and experience. In discussions about Trump, my sister-in-law will say things like, "I know a lot of people are mad at him, but I don't know why."

They'd certainly never go to a Trump rally or harass minorities or anything like that. But frankly, they and many others are passive enablers of a lot of the awful stuff in the country today.

[atreides1]

14. There were a lot of those folks...

...in Germany and Italy during the rise of Fascism! Folks who were nice, decent, and friendly...had families, raised their children, etc.

The key is that those folks were like your sister-in-law, they just didn't understand why some people were not happy with the leaders of those groups either, and in time they just lined up behind them because it wasn't that bad!

People like your brother and his wife are a much bigger threat, then the cultists...because they don't take a stand now and won't later.

[SayItLoud]

16. Yep, X 1000

[dustyscamp]

62. This so much

[Charlie G]

29. Bingo ... You have it

The people here are not typical Americans, we follow the news and care about politics. Most people do not; unless it in some way, it will effect them. Leave me alone, don't bother me unless it is within 2 months o an election. Even then they will vote for the status quo unless their personal economy is bad.

[doompatrol39]

42. Exactly. These people are a silent but sizable chunk of Americans.

Not evil or bad, but just not overly informed or paying attention to much beyond what exists in their own field of vision.

[louis c]

5. I demand a recount...

...You can't convince me that half this country agrees with Trump.

[lagomorph777]

9. November 2018 seems to sharply rebuke this poll.

And Trump himself of course.

[Drunken Irishman]

35. No more than 2010 was a strong rebuke of Obama...

[stopwastingmymoney]

38. I would disagree with you on that because

2010 was a case of low turnout, based on apathy and anger both.

2018 was very high turnout, motivated by outrage I think.

I also think this terrible period will prove useful in that more people are aware, the young ones especially. I can only hope they remain engaged.

[former9thward]

64. 2018 was high but not that much.

2018 was 47% and 2010 41%. A 6% difference. States which had high turnout also had high Republican turnout. That is one reason Rs gained 2 seats in the Senate. That does not happen in a "wave".

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/08/665197690/a-boatload-of-ballots-midterm-voter-turnout-hit-50-year-high

[ArizonaLib]

15. The laughing stock of the developed world

Cannot possibly be doing well even in right wing funded polls. He is always on the defensive except when talking about invaders or at his brown shirt redux rallies. They have 10x more on him than the day Nixon resigned, and his opponents are starting to abandon impeachment for criminal focused punishment. Gallup was famously wrong about Truman vs Dewey, Obama vs Romney, and unable to come up with a reasonable explanation for getting it wrong, decided to leave the presidential race polling. They gave Nixon a 25% approval rating when he resigned in disgrace - which had to be very scewed. I don't they ran a poll that final week, and were scewing the ones leading up to it. Politicians of both parties know where the country is with this president, and even Republican senators are not with him. Then the only court that he relies on for support is his right wing supreme court, it tells it all. The only power he has is from corrupt sources. I hope in 2020 the Senate is a Democratic super majority, so we can fix his crap.

[machoneman]

21. Agreed but polls can be quite wrong. A trend line must develop before....

I'd believe these responses.

[NRaleighLiberal]

8. our microsecond attention span culture does not fit a complex, long investigation

particularly when there is so much right wing hate/brainwashing going on.

The cult of trump is pretty well embedded and frightening in its ignorance and tenacity

[bigworld]

10. tables and methodology are here

if anyone wants to dig into them

https://www.suffolk.edu/academics/research-at-suffolk/political-research-center/polls/national

[bigworld]

11. The question seems way problematic

20. President Trump has called the Special Counsel´s investigation a “witch hunt” and said he´s been subjected to more
investigations than previous presidents because of politics. Do you agree?


-----

yes, I DO agree that he's been subjected to more investigations than previous presidents -- that's because of what he's done. That doesn't mean I agree with the first part of the question.

[Bleacher Creature]

24. Good catch!!

This makes a lot of sense. Thanks!!

[DonaldsRump]

79. Many thanks for spotting this!

This is why DU is one of my first stops when hearing news. Folks here are very smart! The collective ability here helps makes sense of the nonsensical...like this.

Good catch.

[crimycarny]

45. Question 16 of same poll contradicts question 20

I agree it's a very poorly worded question. Question #16 was "How much trust do you have in Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation to be fair and accurate--a lot of trust, some trust, little or no trust". 54% answered a lot of trust or some trust. 35% had little or no trust. (9% undecided). That doesn't jive with 50% thinking it's a witch hunt.

Question #20 asks 2 completely different questions IMO. Should be "do you think the special counsel investigation is a witch hunt?" and "has Trump been subjected to more investigations than previous presidents because of politics".

I bet on the second part of question #20, many people didn't even hear/read the "...because of politics". I didn't register that part myself until posting my reply. I read the question more than once and my answer was "yes" because I only registered "has he been subjected to more investigations than previous presidents". Hell yes, I thought. Then I saw the "because of politics".

So, horribly worded question. I can see why it got a 50% yes.

[mr_lebowski]

12. That's because it's taking a long time, and people expect immediate gratification

That, and the fact that the media covers his stupid tweets all the f***ing time.

The time factor is probably bigger though. Along with people's stupidity. They conclude 'it's been 2 years and we've not been shown bombshell/smoking gun evidence, so maybe Mueller has nothing'.

Honestly it's POSSIBLE Trump himself wasn't aware of collusion by the people around him. Clearly the people around him DID SO, but there's a small chance he wasn't aware, or if he was, he never ordered anyone to do so.

The Stone case is probably the best shot we have at proving he did. The fact that he called Trump basically IMMEDIATELY upon Wikileaks receiving the stolen DNC/Podesta docs from Guccifer 2.0/DCLeaks ... is potentially highly damning. Esp. if it can be proven Stone knew that a foreign government was behind the theft and conveyed that to Trump.

Or if Mueller finds proof that anyone close to Trump ever RECEIVED any of the stolen DNC docs.

[Doodley]

13. Trump should never have been allowed to get away with his lies about the investigation, or anything

else. He has never faced consequences for his lies. There has never been any kind of coherent, organized rebuttal to his lies.

[IronLionZion]

17. Fake News

[bluestarone]

22. THIS!!

Polls are BULLSHIT!!!

[The Liberal Lion]

19. I'm calling bullshit on this poll

because if it's not bullshit we are screwed.

[videohead5]

25. You can't go by one poll

There has to be more polls showing the same thing.

[AJT]

26. It's natural for this to happen. The longe this goes on without a conclusion

the more people will start to doubt there was any validity to starting an investigation.

[watoos]

27. I just did a poll,

it was an appreciation for me poll, and it came out 98% of responders want to give money to me, $100 minimum, preferably cash. PM me for a PO box to send the cash. Polls don't lie, show your appreciation for me, donate now.

[asiliveandbreathe]

28. Without ANY significant substance...what a bunch of BS.....polling who? - Know

nothings - I don't believe it is a witch hunt, as shitler has suggested over and over..When the Mueller report is put in the public domain, I believe we will go from 0 to 100 in a nanosecond..facts will be laid bare..then take your stupid poll...at least you will have some factual basis Susan.....for now, talk to the hand...

[leftynyc]

30. Relax everyone, it's a bad sample

the poll says that 35% of the respondents identified as Conservative or Very Conservative, while 23% identified as Liberal or Very Liberal. There is nothing in the methodology on how they arrived at those proportions being a representative sample.

[kimbutgar]

31. I would like to see the methodology of this poll but couldn't find the link in this story

This poll is highly suspious. My bs detector is on this big time. How repukes, how many Democrats and independent. Land line or cell numbers.

[Wednesdays]

70. See reply #11. nt

[playaseeker]

32. Why does evil have more energy?

It seems like in today's world the nefarious forces are more energetic, more clever and more dedicated than people who support honesty, integrity and moral living. Think of the insatiable energy of Karl Rove to look for every little twist and turn he could use to influence elections, skirt the rules and bend the truth. Might just be a sign of the times

[Thekaspervote]

33. u s a today.. big fence rider.. right leaning gotta please everyone

The paper is fluff ..no real new there

[Perseus]

34. Where was the poll done?

I have to believe the numbers are wrong...it was about 80% in favour of Muller not long ago...where did they take the poll, at the RNC headquarters?

[jcmaine72]

36. If that's the case, then half of Americans are....

...incredibly stupid.

But, hey, that's how our corporate media and the powers that be like their citizenry. It's great for the economy. You can sell stupid people stupid things all day long and earn a veritable king's ransom in profits in the process. God bless America!

[beachbum bob]

37. I do not believe this is the case and can't make anything of a single poll like this one

[mn9driver]

39. Over the last several weeks, I've developed a really bad feeling about where we are going to end up.

The United States is drifting further and further from where the other western democracies are. I don’t know where the tipping point is, but I’m convinced we are getting closer to it every week that goes by.

I hope I’m wrong.

[skypilot]

41. This crap is getting too Orwellian.

One minute a majority of Americans have confidence in Mueller and want to see him be allowed to finish his investigation and then next minute THIS BULLSHIT. Oceania this week, Eurasia the next.

[maxsolomon]

46. And we wonder why he whines on Twitter constantly

Because it works. It moves the needle of public opinion.

He uses simple terms, repeated over and over, that people with limited education (and time to pay attention to politics) understand. He confuses and conflates the issues. He turns everything into a Binary Opposition.

This same half couldn't name a specific objectionable thing that Mueller has done that "proves" it's a "Witch Hunt" to save their lives. Maybe 10% could come up w/ Strzok and Page. I'd bet the majority of these Americans think "Collusion" is a crime.

[lancelyons]

49. Here was the question on the USA Today / Suffolk Poll and it is somewhat misleading

President Trump has called the Special Counsel’s investigation a “witch hunt” and said he’s been
subjected to more investigations than previous presidents because of politics. Do you agree?
(N=1,000) n %
Yes------------------------------------------------------------------503 50.30
No-------------------------------------------------------------------468 46.80
Undecided --------------------------------------------------------- 27 2.70
Refused--------------------------------------------------------------- 2 0.20


Has Trump been subjected to more investigations than the previous president because of politics is the question.


https://www.suffolk.edu/-/media/suffolk/documents/academics/research-at-suffolk/suprc/polls/national/2019/3_18_2019_marginals_pdftxt.pdf?la=en&hash=08D80F5B81AA64BA3B2EB3EFC750919CAEB5D19B

[scarytomcat]

78. you can't have 3 variables in a question

what question was being answered?
When you start a question with a statement like the investigation is a witch hunt, you have lead the the responders to the answer that is desired. It is as bad as a push poll.
So which question was answered?
Is it a witch hunt?
Has he been subject to more investigations?
Is it politics?
When you are a criminal...
How many investigations of Clinton...
Witch hunt...

[Faux pas]

52. His koolaid

is in the water!

[dlk]

54. I Would Challenge the Statistical Significance of this So-Called Poll

Poll numbers can be easily manipulated to say anything. I blame the MSM for perpetrating this harmful garbage.

[Mr Tibbs]

56. He is already convicted of multiple felonies as "Individual 1"

His (501)(c)(3) Family Charity collapsed in corruption, his family was using it as a slush fund/piggy bank. More felonies there. But Mueller is just picking on him?

I hope Mueller doesn't bother reacting to this conspiracy theory.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

60. Convicted of multiple felonies?

When did those convictions occur? Is he out on parole right now?

In reality, he hasn't even been indicted. Maybe some of those (probably mythical) sealed indictments have his name on them, but I wouldn't count on it.

[Mr Tibbs]

61. "As individual 1"

"Individual 1" directed and funded the actions taken by Cohen, who was convicted to prison for carrying out same.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

71. Cohen said he was pretty sure "Individual 1" is Trump.

But I'm pretty sure "Individual 1" has not been convicted of anything. Unless I'm even more ignorant of the law than I already thought, we don't try and convict people in absentia nor under a pseudonym.

Cohen was convicted. Not Trump. He hasn't been convicted of anything. Nor has he been indicted for anything so far as we know.

[Mr Tibbs]

73. HE didn't say he was "Pretty sure" it was Trump

Cohen literally has Trump on audio recording directing the illegal payments. Individual 1 will be charged when he leaves office, at which time he will no longer be "Individual 1".

Though I believe he should be charged now.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

75. Okay, but nonetheless,

Trump has not been convicted of anything. What is your source the Individual 1 will be charged when he leaves office? Has some judge or DA or whatever appropriate official would be in the relevant venue said that? Or are you just hoping that will happen?

Every single week here people confidently assert that this Friday, for sure, indictments will come down and Ivanka, Jared, Don Jr., and Eric will all be arrested. Or something similar. I no longer believe that anything like that will happen to any of them. Trump will finish out this term, maybe even (as ghastly as it is to contemplate) a second term and retire to play golf the rest of his life. Untouched by the hand of the law.

[Mr.Bill]

57. Also consider

that during the entire investigation, Trump has bee screaming his innocence, "no collusion", and that the whole thing is a witch hunt on a daily basis. All this time Mueller has been silent. And Mueller still has the faith of half the people? I'd say that's amazing.

[DonaldsRump]

58. One thing to keep in mind

I don't buy this poll either. There's probably some methodology flaws that undermine its credibility.

Putting that aside, the one thing that Trump has going for him is he has no hesitation about saying/tweeting about hoaxes, witch hunts, etc. The SCO, on the other hand, is very quiet, with no leaks, speaking only through indictments and non-redacted pleadings, as well as oral arguments in courts. That's it, and that's commendable. However, Trump's constant barrage against Mueller may sway folks who don't want to think. There's a clear asymmetry of communication between the two, and that favors Trump.

While I wish Mueller would move faster, he and his colleagues, know so much more than me, so I'm willing to wait (others might not be, and it's only natural that the constant tweets from the Fool in the White House (wasn't that a Beatles song:silly .

It immensely helps to have the House actively investigate this; they can now speak openly where Mueller won't or can't. For two years, Congress effectively did nothing on this, and a few Dem stalwarts were left without much power, but they spoke up, like Adam Schiff, Ted Lieu, Sheila Jackson Lee etc etc.

[Wednesdays]

72. The "methodology flaw" is that it was a two-part question.

See reply #11.

[BlueIdaho]

59. Bullshit

Disinformation.

[angrychair]

63. So falls rome

Not with a bang but a whimper.

Not unsurprising at all and not outraged or shocked. I expect nothing less from a society that collectively knows more about the personal lives of the Kardashians than their own actual neighbors. No need to even mention their ignorance of their own state govt, much less name any federal govt executive branch cabinet member below VP or their own state's representatives in Congress.

[bitterross]

66. Bullshit. Did they poll just their readers?

I don't believe this crap.

USA Today is a rag that dumbs already dumb news down. Before I believed any of this I'd have to know what the questions were and who composed the sample that was polled.

[jmowreader]

67. What could be fun...

Bring the same group together and ask:

“Would you support sending Hillary Clinton to prison even if a court proved she did nothing wrong?”

Then ask if Obama should have been impeached regardless of need.

The answers would have been similar to this poll.

I don’t want Trump impeached, tried, convicted, stripped of his wealth and banished to an island so remote he’s got to be fed by airdrop because it’s “popular,” but because it’s the right thing to do.

[SpankMe]

69. This is not good

Trump's psyops are working.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

74. Everyone on this board who believes this hogwash raise your hand.........

[Iliyah]

77. Raising both hands . . .

35% - Republicans (conservatives)
25% - Liberals, Progressives (Moderates as well), Democrats

Leaning mostly to the Right poll - bullshit poll . .

[Polybius]

80. I beg everyone here not to dismiss or take this poll lightly

We much fight tooth and nail every day so we can win in 2020, and most importantly we must be fully united behind a candidate by the convention. No division, only unity.

If we don't take this seriously and have a plethora of "Thank you for your concern" posts every time someone expresses that it'll be tough (or "the polls are tight" ), then we won't make it. If the Tangerine Emperor is good at anything, it's attracting mindless lemmings to vote against their own interests. Get out and vote 2020.

[dustyscamp]

85. Many Dems have that attitude unfortunetly

It's not going to be an easy win as many people here think

[Steerpike]

83. perfectly understandable

the investigation is a sham that will lead to nothing just more smoke and mirrors. the never ending investigation held in secret. and since the FCC is packed with corporate shills that ensure that information is controlled by a select group of people....

[brooklynite]

84. The poll question is seen as flawed...

It asked if people agreed to TWO propositions:

The Mueller investigation was a "witch hunt"

Trump was being investigated more than other Presidents