According to recent polls conducted in June 2017, whereas, most Americans (from the left and center) believe that Russian operators under the direction of its leader, President Vladimir Putin meddled bigly in the US 2016 presidential elections, only a quarter of Republicans feel this is true.
This is the impact of President Trump telling his followers to discount the facts disseminated by the mainstream media, like all 17 US intelligence agencies concur that Russia launched an unprecedented attack in 2016 against the US elections systems and politics in order to influence the outcome.
In short, the president’s followers are choosing to believe what he says is true over any facts reported by most media outlets.
Here’s the rest of the story…
On June 15, 2017, the Guardian published an AP report, “Most Americans believe Trump tried to interfere with Russia investigation: Poll shows 68% of Americans are at least moderately concerned about the possibility Trump or his campaign associates had inappropriate ties to Russia.”
“A clear majority of Americans believe Donald Trump has tried to interfere with the investigation into Russia’s alleged election meddling and possible Trump campaign collusion, a new poll shows. Just one in five support his decision to oust James Comey from the FBI.”
“Americans largely view the issue along partisan lines. Sixty-two percent of Republicans say they’re not very concerned or not at all concerned about any Russia ties. Though just over half of Americans say they disapprove of Trump’s firing of Comey, the number grows to 79% among Democrats. Overall, only 22% of Americans support Comey’s dismissal.”
“For Sandra Younger, a 50-year-old from San Diego, Comey’s exit reinforced her suspicion “something fishy” was going on with the president and Russia. She said it was inappropriate to fire Comey given that he was overseeing the Russia investigation.”
“If I had nothing to hide and someone wanted to investigate, I would say, ‘Go ahead, do your thing, I don’t care, because you won’t find anything,’” said Younger, a Democrat who imports jewelry supplies. She added of Trump: “He seems to be buddy-buddy with these epic creeps.”
“But William Shepherd, a maintenance worker from Anderson, Indiana, felt it was the president’s prerogative to choose his FBI director. He said he was untroubled by claims Trump tried to persuade Comey to back off the investigation, saying those revelations only emerged after Comey was fired and wanted to defend himself.”
“These headlines don’t really concern me, although they are attention-grabbers,” said Shepherd, a 40-year-old Republican.”
“Of the six in 10 Americans who think Trump tried to obstruct or impede the investigation, most are Democrats and independents. Only a quarter of Republicans feel Trump meddled in the probe.”
The poll began the day before Comey testified publicly before the Senate intelligence committee and continued through Sunday. Three percent of interviews were conducted before the hearing.
“For many Democrats, there’s some irony in coming to Comey’s defense and embracing his concerns about Trump. Last year, Democrats aggressively attacked Comey for his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, with many calling for his firing.”
“Now that Trump is president and Comey has emerged as a top Trump antagonist, some former Comey critics see his willingness to go after the leaders of both political parties as proof of his independence.”
“I’ve not ever been a particular fan of Mr Comey’s,” said James Shaw, 53, of Olney, Illinois, pointing to the Clinton saga as a key reason. “But he’s an honest broker. I don’t think he’s politically motivated. I don’t think he’s partisan.”
“Trump’s reference to the Russia probe as a reason for firing Comey bothers Linda Richardson, 62 – but not enough to second-guess his decision. Richardson, who said she’s a registered Democrat but has voted Republican for years, said Trump might have had other reasons, too.”
“I guess you feel like you just need to trust your president,” said Richardson, a retiree from Meade County, Kentucky. “He just knows more about it than I do.”
“Americans are mixed on whether the justice department investigation, now led by Robert Mueller, can be fair and impartial. Twenty-six percent are very or extremely confident it can be. Thirty-six percent are moderately confident and an equal share of Americans aren’t very confident or are not at all so.”
“Mueller, the former FBI director, was put in charge of the investigation after Trump fired Comey and public pressure mounted for a special counsel to take over. Comey later testified that he’d authorized a friend to disclose to the media his notes on conversations with Trump about the investigation, in hopes that it would lead the justice department to name a special counsel.”
“The poll shows the public relatively unsympathetic to those leaking information about the investigation. Fifty-four percent say they’re doing more harm than good by potentially damaging national security. Forty-two percent think they’re doing more good by giving the public necessary information.”
“In general, 29% of Americans say they have a great deal of confidence in the people running the FBI. Fifty-two percent have a moderate amount of confidence and 18% have hardly any confidence. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they have a great deal of confidence in the FBI, 38% to 24%.”
• “The AP-NORC poll of 1,068 adults was conducted 8-11 June using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. Respondents were first selected randomly using address-based sampling methods, and later interviewed online or by phone.”
Gronda Morin 
Gronda, what is your opinion on alt news/ press like Alex Jones, Breitbart, RT (Russia Today). It seems MSM losing more and more viewership and credibility to the like of alt news sources everyday. Like Hillary said when she addressed Congress: “We are losing this infowar!”
The U.S. is losing an information war to alternative media outlets, including RT. That’s the message from Hillary Clinton to Congress members, who are questioning the State Department’s US $47 billion budget request for next year. And as RT’s Gayane Chichakyan reports, the (former) U.S. Secretary of State says Washington needs to step up its propaganda efforts.
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Dear !EarthUnited,
I am concerned about the purveyors of fake news via media outlets like Breibart, Info Wars, etc. Those who are attracted to these news sources are not going to be moved off these sites because of propaganda.
On the flip side, consumers of news are resorting to news sources like NY Times, Washington Post, WSJ, at much greater numbers. These readers are not likely to give credence to media outlets like InfoWars.
In short, consumers get their news from sources which reflect their thinking. Few peruse news from all sides of the political spectrum.
Hugs, Gronda
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I believe as consumers of information regardless of source, we must be diligent and more discerning. It is only human to show some bias or political affiliation when it comes to reporting news, there’s always a perspective. Ppl on either side of the political spectrum cry “fake news” when it doesn’t suit their agenda. Also news agencies cannot outright lie to the public b/c they lose credibility very quickly.
I find RT to be the most informative b/c they report international news that are not covered by MSM. Do they have a hidden Russian agenda, OF COURSE! But it is up to me to interpret, mentally process what i watch, not blindly believe whatever the media is telling us. That goes for all news sources, there’s event staging and sensationalism going on.
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Dear !EarthUnited,
I am one of those peoples who truly has friends from both sides of the aisle or with opposing view points. I do not talk politics with a couple of them because discussing a different point of view is upsetting to them. While I never suffer under the illusion that I am going to change anyone’s way of thinking, others can’t seem to accept that I am not likely to change my mind about things, either but I am a willing listener otherwise.
About using RT as a reference, it is rare where I would RELY on its accuracy without confirmation from another source. But there are instances where I read stories posted by RT TO GET THE Russian perspective like what to do in Syria.
And so, on this subject, we are going to have to respectfully disagree. Its news items are not well vetted enough for me. I remember one instance, where the republican presidential candidate Ben Carson stated in front of the press that there was a ship from China spotted in the middle east area. The press made fun of him but I felt bad, because I knew that RT had covered that story which was fake news. If Ben Carson had done just a little bit of research, he would have discovered several news outlets debunking that story.
All newspapers make mistakes and many in the USA and the UK suffer from western bias. But reputable news outlets in the USA get ample notes from peoples like me who speak out. Corrections are made frequently and when you look up some articles, you will see a note of an update to inform readers that a correction was made.
I would never use RT as my solo source on any subject.
I like the following commentary by the August 2016 edition of The Guardian, “These are confusing times for consumers of the news, and the issue of which media outlets should be trusted is as demanding and critical as ever. Given the level of conflict and potential conflict in the world today, plus pressing global issues regarding environmental crisis, poverty and resources, it is essential that people learn to navigate the media and defend themselves against manipulation. The first step towards becoming more informed is to avoid seeing our governments and media as free from manipulation while demonizing “foreign” governments and media as full of propagandistic lies.”
“The second step is to recognize that one can gain useful insights and information from a variety of news sources – including those that are derided as “propaganda” outlets: Russia Today, al-Jazeera and Press TV should certainly not be off-limits. Mainstream media, wherever it may be based, is widely acknowledged to be overly deferential to political and economic power and that means, as consumers of news, we also need to think about exploring alternative news and information sites such as Media Lens and Spinwatch. And, more broadly, we need to become more aware of the strategies of manipulation that all governments employ in order to shape opinions and conduct.”
Hug, Gronda
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I totally agree with your assessment, and i never use a single source only b/c it may be a hoax or inaccurate.
Thanks so much for the quote from the Guardian, that’s very sound advice. 🙂
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Good discussion. One thing to keep in mind about RT is Putin is in control of content. This came from some news reporters who resigned because of Moscow’s fingerprints. Putin is very clever how he uses sources of information. This is why he sees it as an extremely powerful tool in his kit bag.
Per a former TV producer, he even influences storyline and dialogue in TV shows. He is smart enough to allow complaints about things against the government to even things out, but he cleverly puts in pro-Putin messages.
This is the new landscape of war and Putin is way ahead of everyone else.
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Ur absolutely right, Putin is a very smart/ sly man. I see Trump is trying to emulate him, but failing miserably.
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Gronda, when a man who five biographers have documented has a problem with the truth, can convince followers that others are lying about him it is hugely successful. And, it is not just these biographers as it the documenters of his lying include a ghost writer of his best selling book, an attorney who worked for him, Politifacts and FactCheck, and those nasty journalists who do their job day in day out.
It makes me ill that this prodigious and habitual liar has credibility with so many. He has played them all for fools, but they just don’t know it yet. Keith
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Dear Keith,
DDT’s ardent followers remind me of followers of a cult leader, where reality is tossed out the window. These folks will have to be deprogrammed to stop listening to DDT and being moved by him.
Hugs, Gronda
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Reads to me that there is a proportion of the population who don’t want to admit they made a dreadful mistake
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Dear Roger,
There is some of that denial element going on here. But as I was just saying to Keith, that his supporters act like they are in a cult. This kind of mindset is not easily moved back into the real world.
Hugs, Gronda
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Cults are bad news. There is never a happy ending to the story.
Take care
All of you
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I don’t care to play a guessing game. We’ll find out in time. Of course, by that time DT may have decided to take his money and leave the office. And yet, that would mean he has good sense. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Dear Suzanne,
You are right in saying that we will find out in due time.
DDT will leave the presidency over his dead body. Removing him from office will be quite show. His using good sound common sense and doing what is the right thing to do is just not part of his character.
Hugs, Gronda
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