Americans remain divided on Trump's firing of FBI chief: Poll

Only 29 per cent of Americans say they approve of US President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, while 38 per cent disapprove and another 32 per cent don't have enough to say on the matter, according to a new poll released on Sunday.

Trump's job-approval rating stands at 38 per cent while 52 per cent of respondents give negative score, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows. Last month the survey showed the results of 39 per cent positive/50 per cent negative score.

A combined 41 per cent have a "great deal" or "quite a bit" of confidence in Trump as president, compared with a combined 57 per cent who have no or "not much" confidence, again mostly unchanged from April's poll.

The poll finds 30 per cent say Trump's decision to fire Comey has given them a less favourable impression of the president, versus only 6 percent who say they have a more favourable view. As high as 61 per cent maintain that the firing hasn't changed their opinion of Trump.

By party, 58 per cent of Republicans say they approve of Trump's firing of Comey, while 66 per cent of Democrats disapprove. Independents break 36 per cent disapprove, 21 per cent approve.

Asked if they prefer Congress or an independent commission or special prosecutor to investigate Russia's involvement, just 15 percent pick Congress, while 78 percent support an independent commission or special prosecutor.

The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted between May 11 and 13 of 800 US adults, including nearly half by cell phone. It has an overall margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

--IANS

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