On May 9th of last year, Donald Trump fired James Comey, the FBI director. He did it because he thought it would stop the government investigation into his collusion with Russia to affect the 2016 presidential election. We know that because he admitted it to journalist Lester Holt, and to high-ranking Russian officials who visited him at the White House.
It didn't work though. A special prosecutor was appointed to investigate that collusion (and other possible crimes or impeachable actions). And there was significant blowback from the public over the firing, with many believing that it was just a naked attempt by Trump to obstruct justice.
Comey also fired back at Trump, exposing Trump's lies about their meetings in testimony before Congress and in a book he wrote. Trump has done his very best to counter that by smearing Comey at every opportunity. So, who does the American public believe? They both can't be telling the truth.
The folks at the Quinnipiac University Poll decided to find out. They questioned a random national sample of 1,193 voters between April 20th and 24th, and their survey has a 3.4 point margin of error.
It turns out that it's not even close. The public trusts Comey over Trump by a substantial 19 points. And when you look at the demographics, you find Comey trusted more by every group -- men by 4 points, women by 32 points, 18-34 year olds by 38 points, 35-49 year olds by 24 points, 50-64 year olds by 19 points, those 65 and over by 3 points, Whites by 9 points, Blacks by 72 points, and Hispanics by 25 points.
It turns out that the poll showed Comey was not well-liked by the public. Only 30% had a favorable opinion of him, while 41% had an unfavorable opinion. But in spite of that, they still trust him more than they trust Trump.
