Republicans have more faith in the White House than the media to state the facts fairly. Americans have more sympathy for refugees in theory than in practice. And most of the public is concerned about people losing their health insurance. This is HuffPollster for Tuesday, January 31, 2017.
REPUBLICANS TRUST TRUMP MORE THAN THE MEDIA - HuffPollster, with Paige Lavender: “According to a new HuffPost/YouGov survey, 81 percent of Republicans think the media wants Trump to fail. Only 5 percent of Republicans said they trusted the media ‘a great deal’ to state facts fully and accurately, but 38 percent say they trust Trump and his administration to present facts fully and accurately. A December 2016 poll revealed similar numbers among Trump voters, 56 percent of whom said they’d believe Trump over a national media outlet reporting he’d said something untrue.” [HuffPost]
What should the role of the media be? - The poll found that a majority of the public, 61 percent, thinks that the media should be neutral. But 36 percent of Republicans think that the media should want Trump to succeed. Just 5 percent think that it does want him to do so. Three-quarters of Republicans say they think media coverage of Trump has been too negative, and just 17 percent that it’s been either too positive or about right. Among all Americans, that number is 41 percent, with 14 percent calling the coverage too positive, and 27 percent saying it’s been about right.
THE U.S. HAS LONG BEEN SKEPTICAL TOWARD REFUGEES - HuffPollster: “Surveys taken last year found that most Americans oppose temporarily barring Muslims from other countries, but that there’s also little enthusiasm for helping Syrian refugees….In the years leading up to World War II, many Americans were also suspicious of Jews fleeing the Nazis….In theory, the public supports helping those in need. When asked in 2011 whether the inscription on the Statue of Liberty — ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free’ — should still apply to immigration policy, 62 percent of Americans said it should. In the face of a specific crisis, their views often turn less welcoming. ‘Americans have a general reluctance to accept refugees into the U.S., even in response to situations that are clearly oppressive,’ Frank Newport, the editor-in-chief of Gallup, wrote in 2015. He noted that the firm had found majority support for allowing in refugees only once, in response to a 1999 question about bringing several hundred Albanian refugees from Kosovo.” [HuffPost]
Jens Manuel Krogstad and Jynnah Radford lay out six key facts about refugees to the U.S. [Pew]
Will Jordan argues that Trump’s travel ban is “a Muslim ban in all but name.” [Borderline]
MANY AMERICANS WORRY ABOUT LOSS OF HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE - Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Emily Swanson: “Though ‘Obamacare’ still divides Americans, a majority worry that many will lose coverage if the 2010 law is repealed in the nation’s long-running political standoff over health care. A new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 56 percent of U.S. adults are ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ concerned that many will lose health insurance if the health overhaul is repealed. That includes more than 8 in 10 Democrats, nearly half of independents, and more than 1 in 5 Republicans. Another 45 percent of Republicans say they’re ‘somewhat’ concerned….Released Friday, the poll serves as a reality check for Republicans as they try to find a path to repealing and replacing former President Barack Obama’s signature legislation. It found that even as few Americans want to keep the health law in its current form, many provisions enjoy broad popularity. The exception: the law’s requirement that most Americans carry health insurance or face fines.” [AP]
Survey finds rising approval for ACA- Anna Yukhananov: “Approval ratings for the Affordable Care Act jumped to 47 percent immediately after Trump came into office, up from 41 percent at the beginning of January, prior to his inauguration. That compares to 45 percent of voters who disapprove of the law, down from 52 percent. The spike was particularly pronounced among people who say the country is on the ‘wrong track.’ Fifty-two percent of people who chose that response now approve of the ACA, up 13 percentage points from the prior poll. Approval numbers also went up more than 10 percentage points among people who care about health care, urban voters, those in the middle class and young people.” [Morning Consult]
Few support total repeal - Quinnipiac University: “Most American voters are satisfied with the quality and cost of their health care and say Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) should be fixed, but not repealed, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. And voters say 84 - 13 percent that Congress should not repeal the ACA until there is a replacement plan in place. Only 16 percent of voters say President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress should repeal all of the ACA, while 51 percent say repeal parts of the law and 30 percent say don’t repeal any of the ACA.” [Quinnipiac]
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TUESDAY’S ‘OUTLIERS’ - Links to the best of news at the intersection of polling, politics and political data:
-Aaron Bycoffe tracks how often members of Congress vote with or against Donald Trump. [538]
-A new PRRI survey finds that 1-in-4 Americans think God helps determine the outcome of sporting events. [PRRI]
-YouGov polling finds that Europeans are more enthusiastic about NATO than U.S. residents. [YouGov]
-Oliver Loeder demonstrates how the Supreme Court’s ideological makeup could change after Trump nominates a new Justice. [538]
-Stuart Rothenberg argues that the House could be in play in 2018. [Inside Elections]
-Kyle Dropp and Brendan Nyhan argue Republicans have an incentive to stick with Trump to avoid being primaried. [NYT]
-Tom Jacobs reports on a study linking personal suffering to extreme ideology. [Pacific Standard]
-Shom Mazumder lays out some of the factors that make marches effective. [WashPost]
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