Comey's firing

Poll: 29 percent approve of Comey's firing

By REBECCA MORIN

FBI Director James Comey's firing isn't well-supported by the American public, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday.

Just 29 percent of respondents said they approve of Comey's firing, while 38 percent said they disapprove. Thirty-two percent of respondents said they don't know enough about the issue to have an opinion.

President Donald Trump fired Comey on Tuesday. The FBI has been conducting an investigation into interference in the 2016 election by Russia.

According to the poll, 46 percent of Americans agree with the statement that Trump fired Comey to slow down the FBI investigation of Russia's involvement in the 2016 election. In comparison, 38 percent of respondents said they agree that Comey was fired because of how he handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails.

Seventy-eight percent of respondents are in support of an independent commission or special prosecutor to investigate Russia's involvement, while only 15 percent said that Congress should handle the investigation.

Trump's job approval rating did not change much from last month's NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. It was down 1 percentage point to 39 percent, well within the poll's margin of error.

The poll was conducted May 11-13, with 800 adults interviewed, including nearly half by cellphone. There is a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.