An overwhelming majority of voters say the news media is making the United States more politically divided, according to a Hill-HarrisX poll released Friday.
The survey of 1,001 registered voters found that 75 percent believe that the way news is reported increases the political divide, compared to only 7 percent who say it has made the county less politically divided.
Seventeen percent say that the news media has had no effect one way or the other.
The issue found strong majority support among both Democrats and Republicans.
Eighty-four percent of GOP voters and 74 of Democratic voters believe the news media has contributed an increase in political polarization throughout the nation, as did 69 percent of independents.
President Trump and his allies have have frequently railed against the media, particularly when it comes to coverage of the administration and, increasingly, impeachment.
Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) made headlines this week when she dismissed CNN reporter Manu Raju as a “liberal hack” over a question about whether she would consider allowing new evidence against Trump in the president’s impeachment trial.
Despite calls to apologize, McSally stood by her comment and later promoted the exchange in a fundraising email.
Trump’s reelection campaign also touted McSally’s response in a tweet linking to a fundraising page for the senator, tweeting “THIS is how you handle FAKE NEWS @CNN.”
The Hill-HarrisX survey was conducted across the country between Jan. 13 and 14, and has sampling margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
—Tess Bonn
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