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A Poll of Polls: What Do Americans Trust? | Morning Consult

Not only does polling find intense difference of views based off of partisan affiliation; polling now finds that partisan affiliation impacts views of the accuracy of polls.

When President Donald Trump opines about the latest poll, he often judges whether the survey is “fake news” based on his own political leanings. And it appears the rest of the country is doing the same, according to a Morning Consult poll.

The July survey of 2,200 adults gauged attitudes toward four hypothetical poll results and found that people’s views on polls shift according to their partisan leanings.

Democrats were more likely to trust the accuracy of the polls than Republicans, 49 percent to 43 percent.

The survey found that a poll that reported negative results for Democrats was the least politically divisive: Half of Republicans and 40 percent of Democrats said the polling headline “Poll: Democrats’ 2018 advantage is nearly gone” was accurate.

The other three survey headlines, which reported positive news for liberals, positive news for conservatives and negative news for conservatives, respectively, resulted in greater partisan splits.

Republicans were more than twice as likely as Democrats to say the article accompanying the headline “Poll: Trump’s approval rating hits new high” would be accurate, 65 percent vs. 31 percent.

The headline “Poll: If the election were held today, Democrats would win the House” created a similar divide: Democrats were more than twice as likely as Republicans to say the article would be accurate, at 61 percent to 28 percent.