Most voters disapprove of how Attorney General William Barr has handled the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report, but Barr's approval ratings have not dropped enough to show public support for congressional Democrats who want to hold him in contempt, according to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday.
The poll of 1,990 registered voters conducted May 3-6 shows 29% of respondents approve of how Barr handled the report's release, but his disapproval stands at 39%, and 32% said they had no opinion.
In other findings, voters were split on whether they thought Barr was working to protect President Donald Trump:
- 35% say he has worked to protect Trump.
- 32% said he has mostly tried to inform the American people.
- 32% were undecided.
The poll fell along party lines:
- Democrats, by 58% to 14% said Barr has acted to protect Trump.
- Republicans, by 56% to 15% said Barr tried to inform the public.
- 28% of independents said Barr has mostly helped Trump, 31% said he has worked to inform the public, and 42% said they do not know.
Barr's favorability rating rose by 2 percentage points from two weeks ago, and his unfavorability rating is up 4 points:
- 22% have a favorable opinion of Barr.
- 34% view him unfavorably.
- 44% either had no opinion or had not heard of him at all.
Meanwhile, a plurality of voters (46%) said they think Trump tried to obstruct Mueller's investigation, but 37% did not. The president's approval rating stood at 43%, up just 1 percentage point from last week and up from 39% two weeks ago. Most voters (52%) disapprove of Trump's job performance.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.