Americans believe women

Poll: Americans believe women over Trump on affair allegations

By CRISTIANO LIMA

A majority of Americans believe the women who have alleged affairs with Donald Trump rather than the president’s denials, according to a poll released on Monday.

Sixty-three percent of those surveyed in the CNN poll say they believe the women who have come forward with the allegations of extramarital affairs with Trump, while 21 percent say they believe the president and 16 percent say they have no opinion on the matter.

The survey found that, overall, Republicans were more likely to trust in Trump’s denials instead of the women, 41 percent to 31 percent, and that women put more faith in the allegations over the president, 70 percent to 54 percent.

A majority of those polled also expressed support for efforts to free up the women who have reportedly been barred under nondisclosure agreements from discussing their alleged sexual relationships with Trump. Fifty-one percent of Americans said the women should be free to discuss the affairs, while 41 percent said the so-called hush agreements should remain in place.

The findings come on the heels of a highly anticipated “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday with Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress and producer who said she had sex with Trump in 2006, an affair that the president’s personal lawyer reportedly paid to keep quiet about just days before the 2016 election.

The White House on Monday maintained that Trump denies Daniels’ allegations.

“The president strongly, clearly and consistently has denied these underlying claims,” deputy principal press secretary Raj Shah said at the daily briefing. “The only one who has been inconsistent is the one making the claims.”

Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, told CNN last week that she also had a sexual relationship Trump before he took office and that she entered into a deal not to discuss it.

Despite upheaval over Trump’s reported romps with Daniels and McDougal, the CNN poll found that the president’s approval rating had bounced back to its highest level since the 100-day mark of his presidency, with 42 percent approving of his job performance. Fifty-four percent disapproved of Trump’s handling of the country.

The survey was conducted between March 22, when McDougal’s interview aired, and March 25, when Daniels’ sit-down was broadcast.

Trump’s approval rating, however, remains below that of all his modern-era predecessors at this stage in their first terms, CNN found.

The CNN poll surveyed 1,014 adults on landlines or cellphones and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.