Republicans and Democrats are in agreement that the current contentious relationship between the White House and the news media is hurting the public’s access to important information.
A new poll by Pew Research showed that 73 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of Democrats believe that “tensions between President Trump and the news media are getting in the way of Americans’ access to important political news.”
The poll was published Tuesday and sampled a cross-section of U.S. adults.
Republicans and Democrats were also mostly in agreement that the heightened conflict between the Trump administration and the news media is a problem.
A vast majority of Democrats, 88 percent, and Republicans, 78 percent, said the relationship is “generally unhealthy.”
The poll, however, did not survey who was to blame for the relationship.
Trump and the news media have been at odds throughout his campaign, the transition, and his presidency. The president has frequently referred to media scrutiny as “fake news,” and the press has at times undermined its own credibility by publishing information that was either unfounded — such as reports on unsubstantiated lurid claims in the intelligence dossier on Trump — or inaccurate.
