With each successive revelation since the FBI's search of former Republican President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence on August 8th, Trump and his surrogates have worked overtime to cast Trump as an innocent victim of government overreach.
And a new poll shows it isn't working very well at all.
A new poll by YouGov and The Economist magazine reveals that a majority aren't being swayed by Trumpworld's spin, and actually approve of the FBI's actions.
The poll was conducted between August 13 and August 16, well after news of the raid's focus on retrieving top-secret classified nuclear weapons documents had broken and after portions of the search warrant itself had been unsealed.
Asked if they approved of the Department of Justice's actions, 54% of respondents said yes. Just over one-third of respondents disapproved, with 36% saying no.
The poll pulled similar numbers when asking respondents if they approved of Trump taking the documents in the first place: 52% disapproved, while 30% thought Trump caching classified documents in his office safe was perfectly fine.
But when the questions were asked specifically about the top-secret nuclear weapons documents the FBI was focused on finding, the numbers changed substantively, with 57% disapproving.
And among actual Trump voters, the question proved divisive: 35% said they approve and 36% disapproved. Another 19% were unsure of their feelings. Perhaps they're still waiting for instructions on how to think from their dear leader.
The poll is an improvement on the most recent poll taken in the days immediately after the search, which showed 49% of Americans agreed with the FBI's actions--more evidence that Trump and Republicans' continued spinefforts aren't landing.
On Twitter, the poll numbers left many people cheering, while others pointed out how out of step the GOP seems to be with the American people on this issue.
\u201cA new poll shows that a majority of voters in the U.S. approve of the @FBI search of Donald Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago resort last week.\n\nAgain Republicans don't care about the voices of the people.\n@GOPLeader @GOPChairwoman\n@HouseGOP @SenateGOP @GOP https://t.co/Z91s6hAi5H via @truthout\u201d— Mark Stern (@Mark Stern) 1660831971
\u201cWell, as usual, the MAGAt QMoron white nationalist christofascist Nazi party aka @GOP is wildly out of step with the majority of Americans.\n\nhttps://t.co/NGD8qwtLI2 via @truthout\u201d— Ray Hawkins\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b (@Ray Hawkins\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b) 1660842174
\u201cThe only people who are upset about it are members of the demented cult.\n\nPoll: Majority of Americans Approve of Search on Mar-a-Lago for Files Trump Took\n\nhttps://t.co/I7J6sjYsbw\u201d— \u2b50\ud83c\udf1f Greg \ud83c\udf1f\u2b50 - \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b Slava Ukraini \ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@\u2b50\ud83c\udf1f Greg \ud83c\udf1f\u2b50 - \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b Slava Ukraini \ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1660846512
\u201c@politvidchannel lol\u201d— PoliticsVideoChannel (@PoliticsVideoChannel) 1660760923
\u201cSeems like the only one's who DON'T approve of the FBI raid, are the criminals who did the crime, and his mindless magat brigade. Makes sense- criminals rarely say "Yep, I'm guilty" https://t.co/CJJe8BgyGD\u201d— Jail Trump Now \ud83c\udf08\u2721\ufe0f\ud83c\udf0a (@Jail Trump Now \ud83c\udf08\u2721\ufe0f\ud83c\udf0a) 1660835158
\u201c@politvidchannel He should have just complied.....\n\nhttps://t.co/VuVbb6oEMp\u201d— PoliticsVideoChannel (@PoliticsVideoChannel) 1660760923
\u201cGQP how about these polls?\n\nhttps://t.co/YttY2dHsSO\u201d— TFG-(E) day IS coming \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc94\ud83e\udddc (@TFG-(E) day IS coming \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc94\ud83e\udddc) 1660246450
\u201cIf you think having someone run for President who may have committed crimes against the USA is not a good idea, you may be in the majority. But barely. The take away? Vote Blue in November or watch the Senate install the first American King. https://t.co/3ObfQs0lnh\u201d— MargChiff (@MargChiff) 1660863497
\u201cTrumpets think they're the majority.\n\nThey are a loud minority.\n\nhttps://t.co/pa9ZdGXbNf\u201d— Rosemary \ud83c\udf3b Smithson (@Rosemary \ud83c\udf3b Smithson) 1660841896
\u201cSomething Republicans don't want you to know.\n\n@GOPLeader @HouseGOP #Trump #TrumpIsACriminal #TrumpIsGoingToJail #GOP #Republicans #Maga #Trumpisgoingtoprison #FBI #VoteBlue2022 #VoteBlue \n\nPoll: Majority of Americans Approve of Search on Mar-a-Lago \n\nhttps://t.co/djzmoDLqof\u201d— Chris McCann \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Chris McCann \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1660778927
Trump and his cohorts in politics and media have tried a laundry list of justifications for his cache of documents, most of which are fully out of touch with reality, including the claim that Trump had a "standing order" to declassify any documents he took from the White House, or that a President removing documents automatically declassifies them.
That is emphatically not a thing, nor are his other defenses, and it seems voters are mostly not falling for the former President's antics this time around.
