Trump vs. Media: Is The President More Honest Than The News Media? New Poll Shows Americans Have Less Faith In Trump

As a whole, Americans have more trust in the news media than they do in President Donald Trump but Republican voters have overwhelmingly more faith in their man in the White House, a new survey has indicated. In total, 52 percent of respondents to a Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday said they have more trust in the news media to tell the truth about important issues. The number of those who trusted Trump more was 37 percent.

However, as with so many issues in the United States, there was a major split along party lines. While 86 percent of Democrats had more faith in the news media, 78 percent of Republicans said they trusted Trump more. Only 13 percent of Republicans responded that they placed more trust in the media.

But the media also had more trust among independents, with 50 percent more inclined to believe the news, compared to 38 percent who put their faith in the president. Those who were white with a college degree were also much more likely to trust the news media compared to whites with no college degree. Trust in Trump also increased roughly in line with the age of the respondents.

The results would suggest that Trump’s frequent scathing attacks on the media are having a sizable impact among Republican voters. The former reality show host has repeatedly decried the mainstream news media, most notably CNN, as being “fake news.” His references to the New York Times are almost always prefaced with the factually inaccurate description of “failing.”

Last week, he took his attacks a step further, writing on Twitter that “The FAKE NEWS media is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people.”

Trump’s attacks on the free press, which is enshrined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, have been met with sharp rebukes, not just from within the media but from members of his own Republican party.

“I hate the press,” Arizona Sen. John McCain sarcastically told NBC News' Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press.” “I hate you especially. But the fact is we need you. We need a free press. We must have it. It's vital.

“If you want to preserve – I'm very serious now – if you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press. Without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That's how dictators get started.”