Poll: Most Voters Think Eric Holder Should Resign

Attorney General Eric Holder is questioned about the Justice Department secretly obtaining two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press, during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. In what the news cooperative’s top executive called a “massive and unprecedented intrusion,” the Justice Department monitored outgoing calls for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, for general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and for the main number for the AP in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Most voters don’t approve of the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation of news reporters, and a plurality – 42% – now thinks the department’s boss, Attorney General Eric Holder, should resign.

An equal number, 42%, think that the Justice Department was trying to bully the media in the case of the AP. Yesterday, we found out that the reports were initially wrong, and the scope of the Justice Department investigation into AP was much larger.

The latest Rasmussen Reports survey found that only 25% (Who are these people?) of Likely U.S. Voters have a favorable opinion of Holder, while 47% view him unfavorably. This includes nine percent (9%) with a Very Favorable opinion and 32% with a Very Unfavorable view.

There is little sympathy for the media in the scandal itself, but Americans clearly do not approve of their targeting. Still, 56% of Likely U.S. Voters report that they get “most” of their news from TV. That includes 32% who get it from cable news networks and 24% who get it from traditional network news.

In the age of the Internet, 25% use it as their main source of news, and only 10% still rely on print newspapers. Only 7% get most of their news from the radio.

Although a majority, 56%, report that they view the news as “somewhat trustworthy,” just 6% say that the news is “very trustworthy.”

Again, who are these people? The same people who have a very favorable opinion of Attorney General, Eric Holder, no doubt.

Not surprisingly, Republicans are more likely to get their news from cable news networks, while Democrats evenly rely on both cable and broadcast TV sources the most. Voters not affiliated with either party are most dependent on the Internet, with cable news a close second.

Equally predictable, a full 75% of Democratic voters consider the news reported by the media to be at least “somewhat trustworthy,” but just 38% of GOP voters agree. Unaffiliated voters are a bit closer to the Republicans, as 49% agree.

Related articles

• Morning Bell: Q&A on Scandals and Eric Holder (heritage.org)
• Favorable Views of Tea Party Up 14 Points Since January (richardbaris.wordpress.com)