President Donald Trump is by far his own worst spokesperson, with 61 percent of Americans saying he does more to hurt his own cause when he speaks on behalf of the administration, while only 33 percent said he does more to help, according to a Monmouth University Poll released Wednesday.
The president's primary spokespeople did not fare much better in the poll, with Vice President Mike Pence the only official to have a majority of those polled (53 percent) say he does more to help the president when speaking on behalf of the administration, while only 29 percent said he does more harm.
Other data in the survey show:
- 42 percent say White House press secretary Sean Spicer does more harm to the president when he speaks on his behalf, while 28 percent said he helps, and 22 percent were not familiar with him.
- Counselor Kellyanne Conway received similar marks from the public, with 40 percent saying she did more harm to the president, 28 percent saying she helped, and 24 percent were not familiar with her.
- Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders received mixed reviews: 46 percent said they did not know her, 23 percent said she helped the president, while 22 percent said she did more harm.
Although the survey specifically asks "Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with President Trump, please tell me if each person does more to help or more to hurt the president when they speak on behalf of the administration," the partisan divide in the answers is glaring.
- Democrats overwhelmingly say all the officials are a miserable failure, with the help/harm splits as follows:
- Trump: 10 percent – 86 percent.
- Spicer: 11 percent – 61 percent.
- Conway: 9 percent – 57 percent.
- Sanders: 11 percent – 36 percent.
Only Pence manages to get some credit among Democrats for explaining the administration, with 32 percent saying he helps, and 48 percent saying he does more harm.
- Republicans, on the other hand, view all the spokespeople as helping much more than harming, with the splits as follows:
- Trump: 67 percent – 25 percent.
- Spicer: 53 percent – 15 percent.
- Conway: 53 percent – 16 percent.
- Sanders: 40 percent – 5 percent.
GOP supporters give Pence especially good marks, with 87 percent saying he helps, and only 4 percent saying he harms the administration.
The poll was conducted by telephone from May 13-17 with 1,002 adults in the U.S. The results have a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent, with a 95 percent level of confidence.
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