A national poll has discovered that Americans trust the media and the courts more than they trust President Trump.
The survey, carried out by academics at Quinnipiac University, found that 52 percent of respondents believed that the media, more than Trump, tells the truth about important issues; 61 percent disapproved of how the president talked about the media.
“The media, so demonized by the Trump Administration, is actually a good deal more popular than President Trump,” Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said via news release.
Trump bashes the mainstream media organizations on almost a daily basis from his Twitter account, branding institutions like the New York Times or news channels like CNN as “fake news” or the “enemy of the American people.”
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017
If the opinion poll results are to be believed, however, the public thinks differently. A staggering 90 percent of American voters said that it is important “that the news media hold public officials accountable.”
The university also explored how people felt about the Trump administration’s policies—finding a general disapproval of those extreme executive orders that have marked these first weeks in office. The court’s suspension of Trump’s travel ban was supported by 59 percent of voters, while 58 percent went on to agree that they trusted the courts to do what is right “most of the time.”
In general, Trump rated the lowest popularity rating of recent presidencies with just 38 percent of participants giving him a positive approval. In just two weeks the approval rating has dropped 4 percent, when compared with a similar poll performed by the same team at the university on Feb. 7.
“President Donald Trump’s popularity is sinking like a rock,” said Malloy. “He gets slammed on honesty, empathy, level headedness and the ability to unite. And two of his strong points, leadership and intelligence, are sinking to new lows. This is a terrible survey one month in.”
Don’t believe the main stream (fake news) media.The White House is running VERY WELL. I inherited a MESS and am in the process of fixing it.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2017
