Last week, Donald Trump met with Putin in Helsinki, and he made it clear that he believed Putin's denial of Russia attacking the U.S. electoral system in 2016. The blowback he received for taking Putin's word over that of our intelligence and justice agencies was huge, and a couple of days later he walked his statement back -- saying he believed Russia did "meddle" in the 2016 election (then added a qualifier that it could have been "others"). Yesterday, he again changed his opinion, calling the attack by Russia a "hoax".
Once again, Trump demonstrated that he simply cannot be trusted to tell the truth. He was notified of the Russian attack on our democracy (and provided proof of it) back in January of 2017 -- two weeks before being sworn into office. But proof and facts mean nothing to Trump. His opinion changes depending on his audience, what time of day it is, or his mood at the moment -- and whatever he says can easily be changed in just a few days (or even hours).
That may be fine with the trumpistas (those who believe anything Trump says -- even when he contradicts himself. But most Americans know better. About 65% believe Russia did attack the U.S. electoral system. About 72% consider Russia to be an adversary (enemy) instead of an ally. About 65% have a negative opinion of Trump's new friend -- Vladimir Putin. And by a 25 point margin (51% to 26%), they disapprove of the way Trump is handling Russia.
The charts above use information contained in a new NBC News / Wall Street Journal Poll -- done between July 15th and 18th of a national sample of 900 registered voters, with a 3.27 point margin of error.
