The majority of people in the U.S. still have "favorable" views of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), despite President Donald Trump's repeated criticism of the agency.
A study from the Pew Research Center found that 66 percent of people in the U.S. have a favorable opinion of the FBI, compared to 23 percent who said they had an "unfavorable" view of the agency.
While the overall ratings of the FBI showed little change over the past year, a partisan gap in views on the FBI appears to have widened, with Republicans' opinions of the agency becoming more negative.
The survey, conducted between February 7-11 and involving 1,009 participants, found that only 55 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents have a positive view of the FBI, compared to 78 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners.
Just a year ago, 65 percent of Republicans had given the FBI positive ratings, with only 21 percent saying they had negative views.
The 23-percentage-point gap between Republicans' and Democrats' views on the agency is one of the widest gaps seen in attitudes toward the 10 agencies the Pew Research Center polled participants on, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service.
There were also wide partisan differences in views on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Half of Republicans were found to have a favorable view of the IRS, compared with 68 percent of Democrats, while 52 percent of Republicans were found to look positively toward the EPA, compared to 66 percent of Democrats.
The majority of the general public looked favorably upon the IRS and EPA, with 58 percent holding positive views on the former and 60 percent looking favorably upon the EPA. Most people polled also appeared to have favorable opinions of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The general public's approval of the FBI—and Republicans' growing disapproval—comes amid a steady stream of criticism leveled at the agency by the president. Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the FBI over its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election that resulted in Trump's victory.
The president was admonished as a "psychopath" over the weekend after he accused the agency of failing to properly investigate a tip on the suspect behind the Florida school shooting last week because of its Russia investigation.
Trump tweeted Saturday:
Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign - there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2018
The U.S. leader did not offer any evidence of a link between the Russian meddling investigation and the FBI's failure to prevent the shooting.
Arizona Congressman Ruben Gallego responded to the president's tweet, calling him a "psychopath."
You are such a psychopath that you have to make even the death of 17 children about you. America will regret the day you were ever born. https://t.co/5jyhVXRSRn
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) February 18, 2018
Survivors of the shooting also hit out at the president, with 16-year-old Morgan Williams tweeting: "Oh my god. 17 of my classmates and friends are gone and you have the audacity to make this about Russia???!!"
On Friday, Special Counsel Robert Mueller charged 13 Russians and three Russian companies for interfering in the 2016 presidential election.
Mueller's indictment said that those accused used fake online personas and staged political rallies posing as Americans to promote divisive messages.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Chantal Da Silva is Chief Correspondent at Newsweek, with a focus on immigration and human rights. She is a Canadian-British journalist whose work ... Read more
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