In the two days after President Donald Trump said, “I don’t see any reason why it would be” Russia that hacked the 2016 election, 60 percent of Americans polled said they thought Russia had, in fact, interfered.
After facing intense pressure for seemingly believing Russian President Vladimir Putin over America’s intelligence agencies, Trump later said he misspoke and meant to say, “I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be” Russia. In recent speeches, Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, has said Russia did meddle in the last presidential election and continues to try to disrupt America’s institutions with cyberattacks. “In regards to the state actions, Russia has been the most aggressive foreign actor—no question,” he said in a speech at the Hudson Institute, a conservative non-profit, on Friday. “And they continue their efforts to undermine our democracy.”
What do American voters think? An Ipsos poll, conducted as the news about Trump’s statements was breaking, finds the majority of Americans believe in Coats’ and the intelligence community’s assessment. Eighty-five percent of Democrats agree, and 46 percent of Republicans. One-third of Republicans, however, don’t believe Russia interfered with the 2016 election.
