The public largely believes that it’s worthwhile to investigate links between Russian government officials and associates of President Donald Trump, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll.
Americans say by a 17-point margin, 48 percent to 31 percent, that the Trump administration’s relationship with Russia is a legitimate issue.
Forty-seven percent say they consider it a serious problem, although just under one-third say it’s very serious. Thirty-seven percent say it’s not very serious or not a problem at all, with another 16 percent saying they aren’t sure.
When pressed, people who say they’re unsure about the issue generally support an investigation. With no “undecided” option given, Americans say by a 28-point margin, 64 percent to 36 percent, that the FBI’s investigation into possible ties between Trump’s associates and Russian government officials is necessary.
About half of the public believes that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, although just 35 percent believe the interference was intended to help elect Trump. Twenty-three percent don’t believe Russia interfered, with another 28 percent unsure.
During last week’s congressional intelligence hearings, House Republicans focused their questions largely on leaks to the media, while Democrats expressed more interest in Russia’s role in last year’s campaign. Americans are split on which of these issues should be the bigger priority for Congress. Thirty-seven percent place more importance on investigating Russia’s role in the 2016 election, and 37 percent prioritize investigating the leaking of classified information to journalists.
Responses are deeply divided along political lines, although voters who supported Trump in last year’s election are somewhat less united than those who supported his rival, Hillary Clinton.
Clinton voters say by a 73-point margin, 81 percent to 8 percent, that the Russia story is a legitimate issue, while Trump voters say by a 43-point margin, 65 percent to 22 percent, that it is not.
Clinton voters overwhelmingly consider Russia’s role in the election a bigger priority, while Trump voters are far more likely to say they’re concerned with leaks to reporters.
There’s also a partisan divide on views of Russia. Although perceptions of the country are low across the board, 21 percent of Trump voters, compared to just 5 percent of Clinton voters, consider Russia to be friendly or an ally.
The HuffPost/YouGov poll consisted of 1,000 completed interviews conducted March 20-22 among U.S. adults, using a sample selected from YouGov’s opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the adult U.S. population.
The Huffington Post has teamed up with YouGov to conduct daily opinion polls.You can learn more about this project and take part in YouGov’s nationally representative opinion polling. Data from all HuffPost/YouGov polls can be found here. More details on the polls’ methodology are available here.
Most surveys report a margin of error that represents some, but not all, potential survey errors. YouGov’s reports include a model-based margin of error, which rests on a specific set of statistical assumptions about the selected sample, rather than the standard methodology for random probability sampling. If these assumptions are wrong, the model-based margin of error may also be inaccurate. Click here for a more detailed explanation of the model-based margin of error.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article overstated how many Americans consider the Trump administration’s relationship with Russia “very serious.”