Voters Think Attorney General Jeff Sessions Should Resign –

Trump seemed particularly incensed by reports and parodies about chief strategist Steve Bannon being the actual decision-maker in the White House.

By Glynn Wilson –

A new national poll shows there’s very little support among American voters for the Republican American Health Care Act, the bill offered up by the Trump administration to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.

Only 24 percent of registered voters in the U.S. say they support the Republican legislation, while 49 percent say they oppose it.

Even among Republican voters, only 37 percent say they are in favor of the proposal, while 22 percent say they are against it. A whopping 71 percent of Democrats are against it, while only 15 percent support it. About half of self-identified independents, 49 percent, say they are against it, while on 22 percent support it.

“The Affordable Care Act continues to post some of the best numbers (we’ve) ever seen, with 47 percent of voters in favor of it to 39 percent who are opposed,” according to the latest poll on the subject from Public Policy Polling.

When voters are asked whether they’d have rather have the Affordable Care Act or the American Health Care Act in place, the Affordable Care Act wins by 20 points, 49 to 29 percent. Just 32 percent of voters think the best path forward with the Affordable Care Act is to repeal it and start over, while 63 percent think it would be better to keep what works in it and fix what doesn’t.

“When Jason Chaffetz (a Republican Congressman from Utah) said people might have to choose between an iPhone and having health insurance, he was actually speaking for a majority of the party base,” said Tom Jensen of Public Policy Poling in making the announcement on the new survey, which shows that 57 percent of Trump voters back the move to repeal and replace Obamacare.

“But virtually no one would actually pick an iPhone over health care if that was the pick they were presented,” he said, since only 5 percent of respondents would go with the phone, compared to 85 percent who would choose health care.

Investigation of Russia

In other findings, 63 percent of voters now support an independent investigation into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 Presidential election, while only 28 percent say they are opposed to one. A large majority, 60 percent of voters, think Russia wanted Donald Trump to win last year’s election, while only 16 percent say they think Russia wanted Clinton to win.

Overall voters continue to have a very dim view of Russia, which has a favorability rating of 13 percent against and 65 percent holding a favorable view. Russia’s former spy chief dictator Vladimir Putin only gets a favorable rating from 10 percent of voters in the U.S., compared to 72 who view him unfavorably. Even among Trump voters only 19 percent view him favorably while 53 have a negative view.

Jeff Sessions Should Resign

In the wake of revelations about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ contacts with the Russians during the campaign, a plurality of voters, 44 percent, say he should resign, while only 38 percent say he should continue as the top law enforcement officer in the country.

“Sessions is unpopular overall,” the survey found, with only 30 percent of voters rating him favorably to 43 percent who hold a negative opinion of Sessions.

Comic Cowboys satirize Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the KKK

Trump Wiretapping Claim

As for Trump’s diversionary accusation that former President Barack Obama had his phones in Trump Tower wiretapped last year, only 27 percent of voters believe Trump’s accusations, while 56 percent don’t believe them at all. Among Trump’s voters, however, 57 percent of them think Trump was wiretapped, while only 17 percent don’t believe the unsubstantiated charge backed up by no evidence and denied by the former president and the intelligence agencies.

When asked who they trust more on this question, former President Obama or Donald Trump, Obama wins out 54 to 39 percent. More than half of voters, 52 percent, would rather still have Mr. Obama in the White House, compared to 43 percent who favor Trump.

Trump’s Tax Returns

Also according to this survey, “voters continue to have a lot of the same basic transparency concerns they’ve had about Trump all along,” Jensen said, with 61 percent saying he needs to release his tax returns and only 32 percent who don’t think it’s necessary. “In fact, 61 percent of voters say they’d support a law requiring that a candidate for President release 5 years of tax returns in order to appear on the ballot, to only 30 percent opposed to doing that.”

Also, 63 percent of voters think Trump needs to fully divest himself from his business interests, while just 26 percent don’t think that’s necessary.

Wall With Mexico

They survey found strong resistance to the wall with Mexico if American taxpayers end up having to fund it. Just 37 percent of voters support the wall if U.S. taxpayers have to foot the bill, compared to 55 percent who are opposed to that.

“Even more unpopular is the concept floated last week of having the wall paid for by cuts to funding for the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration, and Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Jensen said. Just 16 percent of voters support making reductions in those agencies to build the wall, while 69 percent say they are against that.

Pence Email Scandal

A majority of voters, 51 percent, say it was inappropriate for Vice President Mike Pence to use a private email for state business while Governor of Indiana, while only 27 percent say it was okay.

“But in a sign that their concerns about Hillary Clinton’s email practices might not have been terribly sincere, 49 percent of Trump voters think it was fine for Pence to use his private email with only 22 percent saying they think it was inappropriate,” Jensen said.

Trump vs. The Media

Trump is also continuing to lose out in his fights with the media, Jensen said. Voters say that the New York Times has more credibility than him by a margin of 53 to 35 percent.

Overall, Trump has a 43 percent approval rating, with 50 percent of voters disapproving of him.

“The 43 percent approval matches the lowest we’ve found for him since he took office, but his disapproval is not as bad as the 53 percent we found for him right on the heels of the initial controversy over the travel ban,” Jensen said.

Trump Impeachment

Voters are closely split when it comes to the idea of impeaching Trump and removing him from office, Jensen said, with 44 percent in support of impeachment and 45 percent opposed.

Unpopular Congress

Congress as a body continues to be very unpopular, Jensen said, with only 18 percent of voters saying they approve of the job Congress is doing compared to 64 percent who disapprove.

House Speaker Paul Ryan only has approval of 34 percent of voters, while 48 disapprove.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s numbers are even worse, with only 20 percent who approve and 50 percent who do not.

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