Poll: Nearly a third of Americans say news media is the enemy of the people

Almost one-third of Americans polled, 29 percent, said in a new survey that they agree that “the news media is the enemy of the … people.” 

Twelve percent of Democrats polled, and 26 percent of independents, said they held that opinion in the Ipsos poll released Tuesday, as did 48 percent of Republicans surveyed, which constituted a plurality for that party.

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President Trump first used the characterization for the news media in a tweet less than a month into his term, proclaiming that various media outlets are “not my enemy,” but the “enemy of the American People!”

He repeated the charge in a tweet last Friday, the same day he called members of the media the “fake, fake, disgusting news” at a campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017

The Fake News hates me saying that they are the Enemy of the People only because they know it’s TRUE. I am providing a great service by explaining this to the American People. They purposely cause great division & distrust. They can also cause War! They are very dangerous & sick!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2018

The respondents in the new poll are also split along party lines when it comes to the media’s treatment of Trump, with 11 percent of Democrats and 79 percent of Republicans agreeing that “the mainstream media treats President Trump unfairly.” 

An overwhelming majority of all respondents signaled support for the media in general, with 85 percent saying “freedom of the press is essential for American democracy.”

The Daily Beast first reported the poll.

Ipsos surveyed 1,003 American adults online from Aug. 3-6. The poll has a credibility interval of 3.5 percentage points.