Most Say Media Working With Democrats to Impeach Trump

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Most voters don’t expect fair play from the media when it comes to news coverage of the Democrats’ impeachment attempt.

Fifty-three percent (53%) of Likely U.S. Voters think most reporters are trying to help impeach President Trump when they write or talk about the impeachment effort. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that just 32% believe most reporters are simply interested in reporting the news in an unbiased manner. Eight percent (8%) say most are trying to block Trump’s impeachment. (To see survey question wording,  click here.)

Seventy-six percent (76%) of Republicans and a plurality (48%) of voters not affiliated with either major political party say most reporters are trying to help impeach Trump, a view shared by only 36% of Democrats.

Eighty-six percent (86%) of all voters say they have closely followed news reports about House Democrats’ efforts to impeach the president, with 54% who have been following Very Closely.

Among voters who have been following impeachment news Very Closely, 58% think most reporters are trying to help impeach Trump; 34% say they are simply interested in reporting the news in an unbiased manner.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted November 12-13, 2019 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by  Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See  methodology.

Trump’s voter approval stands at 48% following the first day of the House impeachment hearings.

Men and those 40 and over are following impeachment news more closely than women and younger voters. Men and middle-aged voters are the most skeptical of the media’s motivation.

Unaffiliated voters are less interested than Republicans and Democrats.

Other minority voters (60%) believe even more strongly than whites (51%) and blacks (53%) that most reporters are trying to help impeach Trump.

Ninety percent (90%) of voters who Strongly Approve of the job Trump is doing think most reporters are trying to help impeach the president. Among voters who Strongly Disapprove of Trump’s job performance, only 16% agree; 64% of these voters say most reporters are trying to do an unbiased job.

Voters are mad at Trump and his political opponents, but  they’re angriest at the media these days.

Distrust of political news reporting remains at a record high, with just over half of voters now convinced that most in the media are out to get Trump. By contrast, 48% thought  most reporters were trying to help Obama pass his agenda.