By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – –
On the eve of former FBI director James Comey’s testimony, Trump seems to be tanking in the polls, and his firing Comey seems to be a big part of the reason why. Nate Silver’s poll of polls finds that the percentage of those who strongly support Trump has declined across the board, even in his base, as Philip Bump at WaPo pointed out.
So what are the polls saying about Trump & Comey, or just about Trump?
An ABC News/ WaPo poll found on Wednesday:
1. 61% believe that Trump dismissed Comey to protect himself from the Russia investigation.
2. 56% of Americans think that Trump is attempting to interfere with the Russia investigation
( OK that’s a little weird on the face of it, but it could make sense. They think Trump is interfering in the investigation of ties of his campaign to Russia, but 5% of those who think that believe that Trump fired Comey for some other reason, like being a showboat?)
3. Only 27% believe that Trump dismissed Comey for the good of the USA.
4. 72% of Americans don’t trust Trump’s word on Russia.
5. But 58% don’t trust James Comey on Russia, either.
Then a just-released Quinnipiac poll found that:
6. Trump’s approval rating has fallen back down to 34%. Some 57% of Americans disapprove of the job he is doing.
7. 64% say that Trump does not share their values.
8. 59% say Trump is not honest
9. 58% think he does not care about ordinary Americans
10. Finally, in another recent poll, 72% of Americans want the US aggressively to fight climate change, and 68% want the US to lead that fight internationally. So much for Trump’s policy on climate change.
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Related video:
CBS News: “Comey details one-on-one dinner with President Trump”
It is good to know that 72% of Americans want the US to fight climate change. It was announced yesterday that for the first time in history there was more energy produced by wind and solar power in Britain than by fossil fuel. If you add nuclear energy to it, Britain now produced 72% of its energy requirements from renewable sources.
Nuclear is not renewable and it is not carbon free. A considerable amount of diesel fueled truck and tractor activity is required to mine the fuel. Then additional energy is required to refine the uranium to fuel grade. And then energy is required to cool the waste material for generations to come.
Uranium is not renewable . It will run out just like coal, oil, and natural gas.
And WTF to do with the waste that will be poisonous forever…..
Watch out for the new trench line that deniers/Trumpites are retreating into: saying that we must fight climate change, but then stoking xenophobia by saying that Rest Of World is cheating us in how the fight is being dictated by Paris.
My guess is, if you confront them by saying, well, if we pull out and there’s no external force to make America cut back CO2 faster than the market would prefer (slowly), what serious act will you support to hasten cutbacks? they will say a carbon tax (which they know won’t happen because their own political faction will go to war over that) or more nuclear (which they know no one will pay for).
If the public’s disapproval of Trump and Trump’s policies does not translate into votes against the Republicans in the House and Senate, it will make little difference. It takes something akin to outrage to motivate voters, but these polls do not reveal the depth of feeling of the public. It will be a mistake to complacently assume that these poll results will be reflected in real results at the real polls.
72% of Americans don’t trust Trump’s word on Russia.
What percentage of the American people trust the mainstream media on Russia – or any other political topic for that matter? My guess is that whatever the percentage is it should be cause for concern for anyone who genuinely cares for the future of this nation.