May 14, 2017

What Americans think of Comey's firing

Evan Vucci / AP

A new NBC News/WSJ poll finds...

  • On Comey's firing: 29% approve, 38% disapprove, 32% don't know enough
  • Trump's motivations: 46% believe it was to slow the Russia investigation, 38% believe it was due to mishandling of the Clinton investigation
  • Trump's approval: 39%, with his favorable/unfavorable at -14%

Key takeaways: That 32% of Americans don't have an opinion of the Comey firing shows that this story isn't resonating in the rest of America the way it is in D.C. And while a plurality believe he wanted to slow the Russia probe, those are largely people who disapproved of Trump in the first place, leaving his approval rating essentially unchanged.

Go deeper