Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Majority of Americans wish Obama was still president instead of Trump, poll finds

Just 38 per cent of voters surveyed say they see Mr Trump as honest

Alexandra Wilts
Washington DC
Tuesday 16 May 2017 18:48 BST
Comments
Donald Trump and Barack Obama on Inauguration Day in January
Donald Trump and Barack Obama on Inauguration Day in January (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A majority of polled voters wish Barack Obama was still president instead of Donald Trump, a new national poll shows.

The Trump White House has had a chaotic couple of weeks. Last week, Mr Trump abruptly dismissed FBI Director James Comey, and then contradicted his press team and Vice President Mike Pence when explaining the reasoning behind the firing.

According to Public Policy Polling, 55 per cent of 692 registered voters surveyed between 12 and 14 May said they wish Mr Obama was still in office.

Only 38 per cent of surveyed voters said they considered Mr Trump to be honest, while 51 per cent characterised him as a liar.

Mr Trump said last week on Twitter that because of his busy schedule and with lots of things happening, it was not possible for his White House press team to “stand at podium with perfect accuracy”.

But 77 per cent of surveyed voters said they do expect the president’s press secretaries to always tell the truth, compared to 14 per cent who said that is not one of their expectations.

Mr Trump appeared to contradict the White House again on Tuesday, tweeting that he had the “absolute right” to make disclosures to Russia, after his national security advisor HR McMaster told reporters on Monday that a Washington Post story reporting that the president revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador was false.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in