James Comey Is More Believable Than President Trump, Americans Say

WASHINGTON, DC —President Trump has accused former FBI Director James Comey of making false statements to the Senate and has also said he would testify to this fact under oath. But according to a new poll from NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, more Americans are more inclined to trust Comey's account of events over Trump's.

While 45 percent of Americans say they are more likely to believe Comey when it comes to his Senate testimony, only 22 percent say they are likely to be believe Trump. Of particular relevance to this question are two requests Comey says Trump made, which many view as crossing an ethical, if not legal, line. First, Comey said Trump asked for his loyalty as FBI director; and second, Comey said Trump asked him to drop the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

Trump has denied making the requests. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Seventy-six percent of Democrats said Comey was more believable than Trump, while only 2 percent said the reverse. Republicans, unsurprisingly, had the opposite opinion overall, but their split was far less stark. Around 50 percent say Trump is more believable than Comey, while 10 percent trust Comey instead.

Independents also tend to side with Comey, with 47 percent trusting the FBI director and only 17 percent trusting the president. Overall, 21 percent said they believe neither Trump's nor Comey's account. Another 8 percent said they believed both, which makes little sense, because their accounts contradict each other.

Other notable findings include:

• Only 27 percent of Americans support Trump's decision to fire Comey
• 46 percent disapprove of the decision
• 78 percent of Democrats believe Russia intervened in the election, while 11 percent do not
• 26 percent of Republicans believe Russia intervene, while 65 percent do not

The poll was conducted between June 17 and 20, contacting a randomly selected group of 900 people. Read the full report on the poll at NBC News.

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images