May 5, 2019

90 Percent of Republicans Still Think Trump Is Doing a Great Job

A new poll also shows that a majority of Americans think Trump lied during the Russia investigation.

President Donald Trump smiles during a meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini in the Oval Office Alex Brandon/AP Photo

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

For people who really believed President Donald Trump could be toppled by a significant primary challenge in the 2020 election, a new poll from NBC News and the Wall Street Journal should set them straight: 90 percent of Republicans polled think Trump is doing a great job as president. 

The poll, conducted after the April 18 release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election, suggests that the report hasn’t changed many minds about the president. Less than a third of the respondents believed the Mueller report exonerated Trump from charges that his campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the outcome of the race against Hillary Clinton. But views on the report continue to filter through a hyperpartisan lens: nearly 70 percent of Democrats think the report failed to clear the president of wrongdoing, while only 11 percent of Republicans see it that way. These numbers have been pretty consistent for the past year, according to NBC, even though Trump’s signature domestic achievement, his massive tax cut bill, remains highly unpopular. The poll shows that the tax cut is even less popular with voters than Obamacare, which had an approval rating above 40 percent, compared with only 27 percent for the tax cut. 

Trump’s popularity among Republicans probably helps explain why poll respondents from both parties were pretty lukewarm about the prospect of impeachment proceedings. Only 30 percent of Democrats thought Congress should start the impeachment now, with most preferring to see more investigation into the Trump campaign’s involvement with the Russians. The new poll suggests that public opinion on the Russia question isn’t likely to change much going forward, even if Mueller himself finally does speak publicly about his investigation. A member of the House Judiciary Committee announced Sunday that Mueller has been invited to appear before it on May 15, but so far the date hasn’t been confirmed. 

Trump, for his part, sees no need for Mueller to testify:

Take the next step: Help us fight for the truth.

Investigative journalism, like the story you just read, takes time to do. Months of research. Weeks of writing, editing, and fact checking—and putting together the photography, art, video, and audio that tell the stories in a new way, illuminating new perspectives and voices.

We can afford to take that time because we don’t report to an oligarch or corporation with a special agenda. We report to you, and for you. That’s why we unabashedly pursue the truth and relentlessly shine a light into the darkness.

In this month’s Summer Membership Drive, we’ve got to raise $200,000 to support more crucial investigations. This is a pivotal moment in our nation, with democracy on the line, and we can only do this work because readers like you step up. Every donation, of any amount, makes a difference here. We cannot do this work without you.

So, we’re asking: Will you support independent journalism that demands those in power answer for their actions?

Take the next step: Help us fight for the truth.

Investigative journalism, like the story you just read, takes time to do. Months of research. Weeks of writing, editing, and fact checking—and putting together the photography, art, video, and audio that tell the stories in a new way, illuminating new perspectives and voices

We can afford to take that time because we don’t report to an oligarch or corporation with a special agenda. We report to you, and for you. That’s why we unabashedly pursue the truth and relentlessly shine a light into the darkness.

In this month’s Summer Membership Drive, we’ve got to raise $200,000 to support more crucial investigations. This is a pivotal moment in our nation, with democracy on the line, and we can only do this work because readers like you step up. Every donation, of any amount, makes a difference here. We cannot do this work without you.

So, we’re asking: Will you support independent journalism that demands those in power answer for their actions?

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

INDEPENDENT. BECAUSE OF YOU.

Mother Jones has no billionaires calling the shots—just readers like you making fearless reporting possible

Donate