May 12 (UPI) — U.S. voters are roughly split in their opinion on whether it was right for President Donald Trump to fire former FBI Director James Comey, with slightly more favoring the move, a new poll indicates.
The Politico/Morning Consult poll released Thursday indicates 35 percent of people agree with the firing, while 33 percent don’t. Another 32 percent had no opinion on the matter or said they didn’t know.
The poll is largely split along party lines.
Among Republican voters, 62 percent agree with Comey’s firing, while 10 percent don’t. Fifty-eight percent of Democrats disagreed with the firing, while 16 percent agreed. Independents are split: 30 percent think Comey should have been fired, while 28 percent don’t.
Trump sent a letter to Comey on Tuesday informing him of his termination.
The president said he fired Comey following “clear” advice from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who, among other reasons, cited Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton‘s emails as the reason he should be dismissed.
But that explanation hasn’t set well with Democrats.
Some Democrats have accused Trump’s administration of attempting a coverup by ridding itself of the man leading the Justice Department investigation into potential ties between his campaign and the Kremlin. They’ve called on the administration to bring in a special prosecutor to lead the investigation.
The poll found 22 percent of voters believe the new FBI director — yet unnamed — should continue the investigation, while 36 percent want a special prosecutor. Twenty-four percent believe Congress should create a bipartisan, independent commission to lead the investigation.
The poll surveyed 1,731 registered voters between Tuesday and Thursday, and has a margin of error of 2 percent.
Another poll, which surveyed all adults, not just registered voters, diverged from the Politico/Morning Consult survey. The NBC News/Survey Monkey poll released Thursday found 54 percent of people thought Comey’s firing was inappropriate, while 38 percent thought it was appropriate.
Forty-six percent of people surveyed in that poll believed the firing was due to the Russia investigation.
NBC News surveyed 3,746 adults on Wednesday and Thursday, and had a margin of error of 2.5 percent.
