New polls show Trump's attempt to spin the Mueller report isn't working.
Trump's evidence-free declaration that he was absolved of wrongdoing in the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller has done nothing to improve his standing with Americans.
New polling finds that a large majority of Americans still disapprove of Trump's presidency, and about half of Americans believe that Trump or someone with his campaign worked with Russia to influence the 2016 election.
"The March 25-26 survey found 42 percent of voters approve of the president and 55 percent disapprove — a net approval rating 13 percentage points underwater and virtually identical to the poll conducted the week before," Morning Consult noted in a report released Tuesday.
The pollsters also found that Trump's attempt to spin a summary of the Mueller report only really worked with the base of voters likely to agree with him anyway.
Almost half of Republicans, 48 percent, said Mueller found that Trump did not obstruct justice — which is not true, even according to the likely biased summary of the report written by Trump's hand-picked attorney general, William Barr. That summary says that the Mueller report "does not exonerate" Trump.
The Department of Justice, led by Barr, has yet to release the full Mueller report, which reportedly contains evidence of Trump trying to obstruct justice. Mueller, however, left the decision of whether to accuse Trump of a crime up to Trump's DOJ appointees.
The bulk of Democratic and independent voters polled by Morning Consult correctly responded that Mueller did not make a determination on obstruction.
A poll released by Reuters/Ipsos on Tuesday echoes many of the findings of the Morning Consult survey.
48 percent of respondents said they believed that "Trump or someone from his campaign worked with Russia to influence the 2016 election," and 53 percent believed Trump tried to obstruct the investigation into Russian interference.
"U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s four-page summary of Mueller’s investigation did little to change public opinion about the president’s alleged ties to Russia or quench the public’s appetite to learn more," Reuters noted.
Trump's public relations campaign and the full court press mounted by his inner circle isn't working. Americans know his presidency is surrounded by corruption and criminality.
Republicans in Congress are now pushing to hide the results of the Mueller investigation, continuing their role as co-conspirators in Trump's cover-up campaign.
Voters aren't being fooled, however — and Trump remains unpopular and untrusted.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
