Most voters are casting doubt on President Donald Trump’s claims that he wasn’t unaware of sexual abuse by late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to a new poll.
A Morning Consult poll, released Tuesday, found that 60% of Americans believe Trump knew of Epstein’s actions, while just 15% said he did not know.
Meanwhile, another 22% of voters think Trump was aware, but did not participate, according to the poll. Thirty-eight percent point believe in both, claiming Trump knew about the abuse and also participated.
While Democratic voters were more likely to not buy Trump when it comes to Epstein, the poll found that only 29% of Republican voters trust Trump over his claims that he did not know about abuse by Epstein. It appears to fall in line with recent polling numbers analyzed on Tuesday by CNN’s Harry Enten, who noted that Trump does not have “his pulse” on the GOP over his handling of the Epstein files.
Trump has vehemently denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring. The president has not been linked to any wrongdoing in Epstein’s case and he has repeatedly said that he and Epstein had a falling out years ago.
The poll comes as the House is expected to vote Tuesday on a measure that would compel the Justice Department to make all documents related to the convicted sex offender public. The Epstein Files Transparency Act — which is poised to overwhelmingly pass, receiving the verbal backing of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) — advanced to a floor vote after a discharge petition, introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and co-sponsored by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), reached enough signatures last week.
The bipartisan bill gained its final signature following the swearing in of Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) after a seven-week delay. It received support from only a handful of Republicans, including Massie and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.).
If the legislation passes the House, it would need to advance through the Senate and then be signed into law by Trump, who said on Monday he was “all for it” and would do so if it reaches his desk. Trump could also order the release of the files immediately, without waiting on congressional approval.
Despite opposing the measure for months, Trump reversed course on Sunday, calling on House Republicans to vote in favor of it. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that “we have nothing to hide,” adding “it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics.”
Just last week, Trump described the documents as a “hoax,” arguing that Democrats were bringing up Epstein to “deflect” from the longest-ever government shutdown. He warned House Republicans against “deflections to Epstein or anything else,” and also directed the DOJ to investigate alleged ties between Epstein and notable Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, as well as banking giant JP Morgan Chase.
The poll from Morning Consult was conducted from Nov. 14-16, among 2,201 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
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