Americans Trust President Trump Less Than Admitted Liar Michael Cohen, Survey Says

Americans Trust President Trump Less Than Admitted Liar Michael Cohen, Survey Says·Fortune

American voters rate President Trump less trustworthy than his former attorney Michael Cohen, according to a Quinnipiac University poll that was conducted in the days following Cohen’s high-profile testimony before Congress.

Cohen, a disgraced and disbarred attorney who pleaded guilty to lying before Congress in 2017, returned to a House panel last Wednesday to admit to his own misdeeds, while calling Trump a “racist,” a “con man,” and a “cheat.” Trump in turn blasted Cohen on Twitter for what he called his head-spinning “lies.”

In the court of public opinion, most Americans are siding with Cohen, according to the poll of 1,120 voters surveyed between last Friday and Monday. By a margin of 50% to 35%, respondents thought Cohen was more trustworthy. The survey showed that 44% of voters believe Cohen told the truth last week, while 36% believe he did not tell the truth.

“Michael Cohen, a known liar headed to the big house, has more credibility than the leader of the free world,” Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll, said in a statement.

Predictably, more members of Trump’s own Republican party sided with Trump, with 79% of Republicans believing Trump over Cohen. Meanwhile, 86% of Democrats and 51% of Independents believed Cohen more. Just 31% of Independents believed Trump over Cohen.

But when it came to the question of whether to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump, 59% of respondents said no and 35% said yes. Yet 58% want Congress to investigate Cohen’s claims about Trump’s unethical and illegal behavior.

In general, a plurality of voters surveyed have a dim view of Trump. 58% said he lacks good leadership skills, the same percentage that believes he cares about average Americans. 65% believe Trump is not honest, while 64% believe he committed crimes before becoming President (and 45% believe he’s committed crimes in the White House).

“When two-thirds of voters think you have committed a crime in your past life, and almost half of voters say it’s a tossup over whether you committed a crime while in the Oval Office, confidence in your overall integrity is very shaky,” Malloy said.

Overall, Trump received a 38% job approval rating, while 55% disapproved. That’s similar to the 38%-to-57% breakdown in Quinnipiac’s survey three months ago and also to the 38%-to-56% breakdown in March 2018.

Trump received his strongest marks for his handling of the U.S. economy, with 49% of voters approving. Overall, Trump’s strongest approval rating came from White men, at 55%, while 12% of blacks, 20% of Hispanics, and 22% of people between 18 and 34 years of age approved of his performance in office.

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