Comey Edges Trump In Voter Trust

Hillary Clinton blames former FBI Director James Comey for her loss last November, but a sizable majority of Democrats have more confidence in Comey than in the man who actually beat her. Republicans strongly disagree.

Comey is scheduled to testify publicly today before a Senate panel about his relationship with President Trump, who recently fired him. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 45% of all Likely U.S. Voters trust Comey more than Trump. Thirty-seven percent (37%) trust the president more, while 18% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

But as is generally the case these days, there is a substantial partisan difference of opinion. Seventy percent (70%) of Democrats trust Comey more; 65% of Republicans have more faith in Trump. Among voters not affiliated with either major political party, 42% trust the ousted FBI director more, while 33% trust the president more.

It’s a closer call among voters when it’s between Trump and Congress. Forty-one percent (41%) trust the president more, while 43% have more confidence in the average member of Congress. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on June 6-7, 2017 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.

Voters aren’t overly impressed with Comey’s performance as FBI director, but just over half disagree with the president’s decision to fire him.

Voters are almost evenly divided over whether the questions raised about Comey’s firing are due mostly to concern that the law may have been broken or are just partisan politics.

Even though Republicans control both houses of Congress, 69% of GOP voters trust Trump more than the average congressional representative. Sixty-two percent (62%) of Democrats trust the average member of Congress more, as do unaffiliated voters by a much narrower 41% to 37% margin.

Men are almost evenly divided when it comes to whether they trust Comey or Trump more, but they have more faith in the president than in the average member of Congress. Trump comes in second among women on both questions.

Older voters trust the president more than those under 40 do.

Over 90% of voters who Strongly Approve of the job Trump is doing trust him more than either Comey or the average member of Congress. Among voters who Strongly Disapprove of the president’s job performance, 87% trust Comey more, and 78% have more confidence in the average congressman.

Hillary Clinton polls nearly identically with Trump when it comes to Comey. Forty-three percent (43%) of all voters trust the ex-FBI director more than Clinton, while 35% trust the failed Democratic presidential candidate more.

Most voters believe Trump tried to shut down the probe of any connections between his associates and the Russians but are confident the FBI will thoroughly investigate the matter despite Comey’s firing. Fifty-two percent (52%) think the Clintons’ ties to the Russians should be part of the probe.

Fifty-three percent (53%) of voters disagree with Comey’s decision not to seek an indictment of Clinton for mishandling classified information when she was secretary of State.

Voters are not likely to say the average member of Congress shares their views. They’re not even convinced their own representative does.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only. 

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