More Republicans than Democrats would vote for a presidential candidate they knew to be a liar, according to national poll conducted for a Utah newspaper.
The Deseret News survey gauged American attitudes about lying in politics. Conducted by YouGov March 10-13, it found that 55 percent of self-identified Republicans would still vote for presidential candidate after they found out he or she had been lying. Only 30 percent of Democrats and 27 percent of Independents said they would do the same.
President Trump announced his 2020 re-election bid earlier this year. The presumption that he will be the Republican nominee in the next presidential election could be heavily influencing the poll’s findings.
For instance, the survey showed that Republican voters were much less tolerant of lying candidates running for other offices; just 38 percent said they would support a candidate for governor who fibs. Conversely, the percentage of Democrats and independents who would vote for a liar for governor rose to 39 percent and 38 percent, respectively.
The poll’s overall margin of error was 3.1 percentage points. The error margin for individual demographic groups was higher, at 6.2 points.
