Poll: Majority Believe Media Working With Democrats to Try to Impeach Trump

President Donald Trump departs for travel to Louisiana from the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 6, 2019. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

President Donald Trump is facing impeachment from Democrats with help from media outlets that are also working against him, a new poll found the majority of Americans to believe.

Respondents to a Rasmussen Reports survey were asked, “When they write or talk about the impeachment effort, are most reporters trying to help impeach President Trump or block his impeachment? Or are most reporters simply interested in reporting the news in an unbiased manner?”

A majority, or 53 percent, said they think most reporters are trying to help impeach President Trump when they write or talk about impeachment. On the other hand, 32 percent said that most reporters are interested in reporting the news in an unbiased manner.

Eight percent said most reporters are trying to help Trump by attempting to block the impeachment efforts against him.

Of the majority who think reporters are actively working to assist in the impeachment efforts, 76 percent of Republicans, 48 percent of Independents, and 36 percent of Democrats agreed with the statement.

Some 860 of the 1,000 likely voters said they’ve been following news about the impeachment and 54 percent said they’ve been following very closely. Among those voters, 58 percent, or a higher percentage, said reporters are trying to help impeach Trump.

Among respondents who said they strongly approve of the job Trump is doing, nine out of ten said reporters are trying to help impeach him; among those who strongly disapprove of Trump’s job performance, only 16 percent said reporters are assisting in the impeachment efforts.

The survey was conducted by Rasmussen from Nov. 12 to Nov. 13 and had an error of plus/minus three percent.

President Donald Trump listens during a joint news conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Nov. 13, 2019. Alex Wong/Getty Images

The poll tracks with other surveys conducted in recent years showing widespread distrust of the media and what motivates reporters and others who work in the field.

About one-third of respondents to a Hill-Harris X survey in July said that the news media is “the enemy of the people,” a label frequently used by Trump to describe outlets he feels put out slanted coverage about him and his administration. A slight majority, 51 percent, of Republican respondents, said the press is “the enemy of the people,” along with 35 percent of Independents and 14 percent of Democrats.

In a September report, Gallup said that respondents’ trust in the media was down to 41 percent, with just 13 percent saying they trust media “a great deal” and 28 percent saying they trust media “a fair amount.”

Of the respondents, 69 percent of Democrats, 15 percent of Republicans, and 36 percent of Independents said they trust the media.

It said Republicans became “increasingly mistrustful” of the media in 2016 during Trump’s campaign for the presidency. “Between 2015 and 2016, Republican trust in the mass media fell 18 points to its historical low of 14 percent, where it remained in 2017. Following a seven-point boost last year, it has returned to 15 percent,” Gallup stated.

“For their part, Democrats have consistently been more trusting of the media than Republicans but rallied around the press and became even more trusting when Trump took office in 2017. The latest data show that in the last year, trust has declined slightly among all partisan groups, but still remains sharply polarized.”