Donald Trump openly admits that he asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, as indicated by the White House’s own transcript of the July 25 phone call between him and Volodymyr Zelensky. Even so, only 40 percent of Republicans questioned in a recent poll say they believe that Trump mentioned his Democratic rival during the conversation.
According to The Hill , a Monmouth poll found that 62 percent of Americans believe that it is likely Trump mentioned investigating the former vice president, while 15 said he didn’t and 23 percent were unsure. But when the results are split by party affiliation, the numbers show that 85 percent of polled Democrats believe Trump mentioned Biden, while only 40 percent of Republican voters feel the same.
The numbers are surprising given that Trump spoke on September 22 about discussing Biden with Zelensky and asking the Ukraine leader to contact his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to coordinate. The survey was done within days of this conversation and shortly after the White House released a transcript of the call revealing details about the conversation. Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said that the results indicate the ways in which partisan politics drives the public’s perception of political events.
“At the very least, it is clear from the readout that Trump discussed investigating Biden during the call. Even though this information was released by the White House itself, more than one quarter of Republicans still say Trump probably didn’t make any mention of it. This seems to be another example of partisan tribalism at work in public opinion,” he said.
“Tonight, a new poll showing only 40% of Republicans believe President Trump talked to the Ukrainian president about investigating Joe Biden.” The problem is that “this is something the president himself has already admitted” – @KateBolduan pic.twitter.com/vFLjrWkPWc
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 1, 2019
If there was any doubt about the president’s intentions, a conversation on Thursday with reporters left little doubt. On Thursday, as The Inquisitr reported, Trump once again called for Ukraine to look into Biden. While speaking to reporters as he left the White House for Florida, he said that he wanted Ukraine — along with China — to open an investigation into the former vice president and his son.
Brian Klaas, a University College of London professor in politics, said that the statement made the president’s motives clear.
“It’s obviously a quid pro quo. It’s impossible to believe otherwise,” the University College of London professor wrote. “He’s using U.S. power, national security, and trade policy as bargaining chips for his personal and political interests.”
Trump has claimed that the reporting on the impeachment inquiry and his phone call with Zelensky is inaccurate and asserts that his conversation with the Ukrainian leader was “perfect.”