Only 30% of American voters say Trump is honest: Quinnipiac Poll

A Quinnipiac Poll released March 5th of 1120 registered voters reported only 30% of the American voters believe Trump is honest- 65% say he is not honest. Trump’s overall approval rating was 38%, disapproval 55%.

Michael Cohen’s testimony clearly had a major impact. Among President Trump’s core supporters, Republicans, 26% do not believe he is honest, and 66% say he is honest. 8% of Republicans aren’t sure if he is honest or not.

82% of polled Republicans approve of the way he is doing his job, but 66% of Republicans think he is honest.

It’s always important to note that a plurality of Americans usually do not identify as either Democrat or Republican, but as independent. In this poll, 37% identified as independent, Democrat 31%, 24% Republican. On the honesty question, 69% of independents said Trump was not honest, 95% of Democrats said he was not honest. 57% of independents disapproved of the job the President was doing.

PARTY IDENTIFICATION
Republican 24%
Democrat 31
Independent 37
Other/DK/NA 8

For actual crimes – 1/3 of Republicans polled actually do believe he committed crimes before taking office and 64% of everyone polled believes that as well.  When asked if Trump has committed crimes while in office, the numbers are more evenly split, with 45% of the total saying yes, and 43% saying no.

Pondering why Americans can approve or support Trump even if they are dismayed by him or acknowledge he is dishonest has been a subject of conversation since his racist rants emerged on the national scene as his candidacy began. Much of the explanation lies in how conservative people view Democrats. Conservatives view the Democrats in  basic ways that don’t line up with their attitudes and simply won’t consider voting for them. The Democrats are far worse than the Republicans, way too liberal, support abortion, think the Democrats are for welfare, want illegal immigration stopped, are deeply bigoted (although they don’t believe that about themselves) etc., etc.  My prior post on a matchup of the President in an Emerson poll with 8 Democratic possible contenders showed Trump’s minimum support against any Democratic contender was 45%, although the Democrats each broke 50%.