Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s public image has sunk to an all-time low, with 36 percent of all registered voters viewing him unfavorably, compared to only 23 percent who thought that way last year when he began his investigation into possible collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, according to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll released on Wednesday.
Republicans have shown the greatest drop-off in support, due to months of sustained conservative attacks against Mueller led by President Donald Trump. A record 53 percent of Republicans now say they view Mueller in an unfavorable light, a 26-point spike since July, when the poll first started asking voters the question.
Other results from the survey include:
- Mueller’s unfavorable numbers have hit highs among both Democrats and independents, at 24 percent and 33 percent, respectively. His favorable rating is 50 percent among Democrats and 28 percent among independents.
- Forty percent of voters said the Mueller investigation has been handled unfairly, compared to early February when 34 percent said it wasn’t being handled fairly. The percentage saying the investigation was being done fairly remained unchanged from February at 38 percent.
- The latest poll also had bad news for the president, as 48 percent said Trump has attempted to impede or obstruct the Russia investigation, up from 44 percent who said that in February. Among Democrats, 79 percent said Trump was trying to obstruct the probe, while 70 percent of Republicans said he wasn’t meddling in the investigation.
- Fifty-nine percent of voters said they opposed the idea of Trump issuing a self-pardon. Twenty percent said the president should pardon himself, while 21 percent were without an opinion or responded that they didn’t know.
- Among Republicans, 34 percent agree with the idea that Trump should issue himself a pardon and the same number say he should not pardon himself. Among Democrats, just 13 percent said the president should pardon himself, while 77 percent rejected the idea. Only 15 percent of independents said they thought Trump should pardon himself, while 63 percent said no.
- Despite being a constant presence in the news for more than a year, Mueller also continues to be little-known to many Americans. Thirty-two percent of all voters and 40 percent of independents said they either had no opinion of the special counsel or had never heard of him.
The latest Politico/Morning Consult poll was conducted June 7-10 and surveyed 1,994 registered voters. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.