A newly published NBC News survey indicates that a clear majority of Americans support the numerous investigations into former President Donald Trump, including inquiries into his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the investigation into his improper removal of classified documents from the White House.
Fifty-seven percent of the poll’s respondents said that the investigations should continue because Trump should be held accountable, while just 40 percent said they didn’t support the investigations, citing a belief that they are politically motivated.
These views differed based on ideology; while 92 percent of Democratic-leaning voters and 61 percent of independents said that the inquiries should move forward, only 21 percent of Republican-leaning voters agreed.
Officials have opened several inquiries — at both the local and national levels — into Trump’s actions as president. These inquiries include (but are not limited to): a Fulton County, Georgia, investigation into his attempt to influence state election officials; a federal investigation into his improper removal of classified documents from the White House to his private Mar-a-Lago residence; and the House select committee’s investigation into the attack on the U.S. Capitol building by a mob of his loyalists.
Although the NBC News poll didn’t name each investigation specifically, it did ask about the January 6 attack. The poll found that most Americans still believe the former president was at least partially responsible for the violent breach of the Capitol building, with 50 percent of respondents saying they believe that Trump is “solely or mainly responsible,” and 16 percent saying they think he is “only somewhat responsible.” Only 33 percent said that Trump was “not really responsible” at all.
Although numerous polls have suggested that Americans approve of the direction these inquiries have been taking, Trump has continued to wrongly suggest on social media that most Americans oppose the investigations — and that his polling numbers are improving because of it.
Trump recently shared a post on his Truth Social site showing that he had a 40-point lead over Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in a hypothetical GOP primary race. However, that same poll, conducted by Politico/Morning Consult, found that 58 percent of Americans believe Trump broke the law as president. Forty-nine percent of the poll’s respondents approved of the Mar-a-Lago search, while only 37 percent disapproved.
Predictably, Trump did not share that portion of the polling data.
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We’ve borne witness to a chaotic first few months in Trump’s presidency.
Over the last months, each executive order has delivered shock and bewilderment — a core part of a strategy to make the right-wing turn feel inevitable and overwhelming. But, as organizer Sandra Avalos implored us to remember in Truthout last November, “Together, we are more powerful than Trump.”
Indeed, the Trump administration is pushing through executive orders, but — as we’ve reported at Truthout — many are in legal limbo and face court challenges from unions and civil rights groups. Efforts to quash anti-racist teaching and DEI programs are stalled by education faculty, staff, and students refusing to comply. And communities across the country are coming together to raise the alarm on ICE raids, inform neighbors of their civil rights, and protect each other in moving shows of solidarity.
It will be a long fight ahead. And as nonprofit movement media, Truthout plans to be there documenting and uplifting resistance.
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