Most say Trump unethical on Russia: poll

WASHINGTON: Most Americans think Donald Trump did something illegal or at least unethical regarding ties between his presidential campaign and Russia — and they think he is trying to obstruct the investigation looking into those possible connections.

The deeply divided country is more concerned about health care and the economy than any collusion with the Kremlin, according to a new poll by The Associated PressNORC Centre for Public Affairs Research. But the survey also shows that Americans are unhappy with the way Trump is dealing with the investigations led by Congress and special counsel Robert Mueller.

Most people believe Trump is trying to obstruct the investigations, which have produced charges against four of his campaign advisers and increasingly appear focused on the president’s inner circle.

Four in 10 Americans think the president has done something illegal when it comes to Russia, while an additional three in 10 say he’s at least done something unethical. And 68% disapprove of his response to the investigations.

There are significant partisan divisions. Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to be concerned about Trump’s actions or to feel invested in what the probes uncover.

Overall, 62% of Democrats say they think Trump has done something illegal, while just 5% of Republicans think the same. Among Republicans, 33% think he has done something unethical, while 60% think he has done nothing wrong at all.

The APNORC poll surveyed 1020 adults, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probabilitybased AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points. — AP