Voters still prefer cable news over the big three traditional television networks when it comes to political news, and despite the recent sexual harassment controversy that led to the resignation of its chairman, Fox News continues to lead the pack. Which political party a voter is affiliated with also remains a key indicator of his or her viewing habits.
Television, primarily cable, still reigns supreme for political news among voters, and while they remain skeptical, voters are slightly more trusting of the news they are getting this election cycle compared to past years.
Voters tend to think House Speaker Paul Ryan is just making a political move with his call to block presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton from receiving intelligence briefings following the FBI's conclusion that she was “extremely careless” with classified information during her time as secretary of State. But voters trust her Republican rival Donald Trump slightly more when it comes to handling the nation's secrets.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 49% of Likely U.S. Voters believe it is more likely Ryan is playing politics rather than genuinely trying to protect the government’s secrets. Thirty-eight percent (38%) disagree and think it's more likely Ryan is honestly looking out for national security. Fourteen percent (14%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on July 14 and 17, 2016 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.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg raised eyebrows and even drew fire from her friends at the New York Times for her recent public criticism of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Voters strongly agree that it’s bad for the high court when the justices make public political statements.
While police killings are escalating in America, voters are less convinced that there is an actual war on those in blue, although most still blame politicians who are critical of the police for making their jobs more dangerous. But blacks and whites sharply disagree on both questions.
An effort by two Democrats on the Federal Election Commission to punish Fox News for including additional – but not all - candidates in its first Republican presidential debate failed in a split vote last week. Most voters agree that it’s not up to the government to ensure that the news media treats all candidates equally.
Most voters feel government and big business are a deadly combination.
Most voters disagree with FBI Director James Comey’s decision not to seek a criminal indictment of Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump has vowed to renegotiate NAFTA and other international free trade deals if elected president, saying they are costing U.S. jobs and killing the economy. Supporters say the trade deals lower prices for American consumers. Voters are not big fans of free trade deals like NAFTA but also strongly believe that the politicians negotiating those deals don’t care what they think anyway.
The final report released this week by the special congressional committee investigating the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, hasn’t significantly changed voters’ opinions about how the incident will impact Hillary Clinton’s bid for the White House. Still, nearly half of voters believe the then-secretary of State lied to the victims’ families about the nature of the attack.
Despite the media panic and market swings that have resulted, Americans still aren’t sweating Great Britain’s decision to leave the European Union and are not particularly worried that the “Brexit” will hurt them in the pocketbook.
Voters like Attorney General Loretta Lynch a lot more than her predecessor Eric Holder but don’t agree with her that love is the best response to terror incidents like the one in Orlando.
Following the shooting massacre at an Orlando gay nightclub by a man pledging allegiance to the radical Islamic State group (ISIS), fewer voters than ever think the government gives the right amount of attention to the threat of Islamic terrorism here at home.
Though there’s been voter anger towards the leaders of both major political parties in this year’s highly contentious presidential primary season, Republican voters are far more likely than Democrats to say their party bosses are out of touch with the voter base.
Voters aren’t overly enthusiastic about how President Obama and the two likely major party presidential candidates have responded to the Orlando terrorist massacre, but the president does best, especially among those who want more gun control. Democrats are happier with Hillary Clinton’s response than Republicans are with Donald Trump’s.
Most voters think the government won't be able to stop further terrorist attacks on the homeland and say the country’s Islamic community should be doing more to condemn such violence.
Most voters say the massacre at an Orlando gay nightclub this past weekend is more about terrorism than gun control, but most also agree that someone on a terrorist watch list should not be able to purchase a gun.
Democrats are much more enthusiastic than other voters about giving felons back their right to vote after they’ve served their time.
President Obama may be garnering unusually high approval ratings lately, but voters are closely divided as to whether his support would help or hurt candidates running in their state and are less likely to vote for a congressional candidate who has supported his agenda.
Donald Trump has been rebuked even by some leaders in his own party for his public criticism of the Obama-appointed federal judge who is handling the lawsuit against Trump University. Most voters agree judges are motivated by politics more than the law but are less comfortable with dragging judges into the political debate.
