Trump Brags Mar-a-Lago Search Improved His Polling — It Didn’t

On Thursday, former President Donald Trump claimed that the Mar-a-Lago search warrant that was executed last month had helped his polling numbers. This statement is clearly false.

The immediate aftermath of the FBI search to retrieve documents that Trump improperly removed from the White House, the former president’s numbers did improve among Republican respondents in some polls. But among the electorate overall, Trump’s numbers have not improved as a result of the investigation.

Trump claimed that he had in a radio interview on ThursdaySince the execution of the search warrant, he has been doing better in the polls.

“I don’t even like saying it because frankly it sounds so trivial…my poll numbers have gone through the roof because of” the search, he said. “I’ve never been involved in an event that’s driven me up like this.”

According to an Economist/YouGov poll, however, 41 percent of Americans had a favorable view of TrumpIn July, 54% said they viewed him negatively. That poll was conducted from August 28-30After the Mar-a-Lago Search, these numbers were almost identical with 41% saying they had a positive view of the former President and 53% saying they had an unfavorable opinion.

Other polling suggests that Trump’s favorability ratings have actually been dropping in the weeks since the search, as more information emerges about the documents that were retrieved by officials. According to an aggregate of polling on Trump’s favorability ratings collected by RealClearPolitics, On August 6, Trump received an average rating of -11.9 favorability, two days before the Mar-a-Lago hunt. This rating was -13 points on September 1.

Polls also show that a clear majority of Americans believe the search on Trump’s property was warranted. In a Wall Street Journal poll conducted from August 17-25, 52 percent of respondents agreed with a statement that the search was a “proper investigation to determine if former President Trump was involved in any wrongdoing,” while just 41 percent said it was part of an “endless witch hunt” to harass Trump.

Other data also contradicts Trump’s assertions. An NBC News pollIt was found that 57% of Americans believe that Trump’s investigations should be continued. And a recent Quinnipiac University pollThe results show that half of the country believes Trump should face criminal charges for his actions. Only 41 percent oppose this idea.

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