A new poll conducted by emerson college reveals that, when it comes to trust, President Trump is running laps around his fiercest critic -- mainstream media. The Emerson College poll shows that an overwhelming majority of registered voters have little regard for the current state of journalism, with 53 percent saying that the media are untruthful.
Only 4 out of 10 trust the media
The poll also shows that President Trump is considered truthful by 49 percent of voters, while a mere 39 percent of voters find news media to be truthful -- a Grand Canyon-sized gap of 14 points compared to the 53 percent who have no trust in media.
According to Emerson College Polling, one reason for this giant gap may be the Trump administration's frequent condemnation of mainstream media over publishing "fake news." When it comes to trust, the partisan split is overwhelming; among Republicans, 91 percent find the Trump administration trustworthy, while 78 percent of Democrats believe that the Trump administration is untruthful.
Democrats more likely to believe news media
The Emerson College poll finds that Democrats are far more likely to believe what they read online or see on television -- 62 percent of Democrats find the news media truthful. When it comes to Republicans, a whopping 88 percent consider news media untruthful. Independent voters are equally split on the issue (48% truthful/48% untruthful).
Another key finding of the poll is that most Americans were opposed to the president's nomination of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. The poll found that only 34 of registered voters -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- approved of DeVos' nomination. The Emerson College poll was conducted before Betsy DeVos and Jeff Sessions were confirmed.
Other nominations were far less controversial; Jeff Sessions was supported by 45 percent of voters and opposed by 40 percent. As Secretary of State nominee, Rex Tillerson was supported by 48 percent of voters and opposed by only 33 percent. Neil Gorsuch, who was nominated by Trump to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by Antonin Scalia, is supported by voters by a 20-point margin (52%/32%).
The Emerson College poll was conducted February 5-6 under the Supervision of Professor Spencer Kimball.
