A majority of Americans believe the press has been too hard on President Donald Trump, with 55 percent saying they are growing "weary" of the constant drumbeat of negative coverage, according to the latest IBD/TIPP poll.
Further, 54 percent of Americans believe the White House's position the media has become the opposition party, according to the poll.
The results:
- 88 percent of Republicans say they are tired of the relentless negative coverage.
- 55 percent of independents and 54 percent of moderates are also weary.
- 62 percent of independents are "not confident" the media can cover Trump fairly.
- 54 percent of independents believe the media has become the opposition party.
Eight out of 10 Republicans are not confident Trump will be covered fairly and the media has become the opposition party; 30 percent or less of Democrats believe the same.
The resulting coverage has directly affected Trump's approval ratings, according to the poll:
- 41 percent approve of the job Trump is doing.
- 53 percent disapprove, up 5 points from last month.
- 50 percent of independents disapprove of Trump's performance, up 3 points.
- 10 percent of Republicans disapprove of Trump's job, up 4 points from last month.
However, 42 percent say Trump is providing strong leadership for the country, higher than former President Barack Obama's 490 percent last October, according to the poll.
The poll, conducted from Feb. 24 through March 4, included 909 responses who were surveyed using live interviewers on cellphone and landlines. It has a margin of error of +/‐ 3.3 percentage points.