Unlike most polls that propose answers, a new Washington Post survey asked voters open-ended questions requesting responses about President Donald Trump’s scandal around Jeffrey Epstein and the documents surrounding his investigation.
The poll was conducted by text to a random sample of 1,089 people, according to the Post, and “was weighted to match U.S. population demographics, partisanship and 2024 vote choice.” The margin of sampling error was “plus or minus 3.3 percentage points,” the report said.
The survey revealed that just 38% of Republicans approved of Trump’s handling of the scandal. Trump typically enjoys high support among Republican voters, but even that has fallen over the issue.
Trump’s “disapproval” rating for the way he’s handling the scandal reached 58% in the Post survey with only 16% willing to say they “approve” of the way Trump is handling the matter.
Meanwhile, 67% of respondents wanted all of the files to be released from the case, not merely the grand jury testimony or a few documents. Another 19% said that they “somewhat support” the release. The total of the two marked a whopping 86% of respondents who want the files released.
While several participants self-identified as MAGA Republicans, even some of those supporters were unwilling to give Trump a pass.
“Everything else in his campaign has been about transparency, why not this?” texted a 24-year-old MAGA Republican woman from Washington state, according to the Post. She wasn’t the only young MAGA follower to question the president.
“I want to know who is on the list and if Donald Trump is on the list,” answered a 25-year-old Illinois man who identified as a MAGA Republican.
A 47-year-old non-MAGA Republican from Utah commented, “The information should just be released. Instead of doing this, he has been attempting to minimize their importance and misdirect focus elsewhere.”
Another non-MAGA Republican, 54, told the Post, “He has been claiming for years he would release the files. Now he is trying everything he can to not release the files because he knows he is on the list.”