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More than half of Donald Trump's supporters believe a massacre that never happened is evidence his Muslim ban is needed.

Last week, Trump spinner Kellyanne Conway - who coined the phrase 'alternative facts' complained the media hadn't given enough coverage to the "Bowling Green Massacre".

Rightly so, because it never happened.

And yet, a new poll published today found that for 51% of Trump voters, the Bowling Green Massacre is all the evidence they need that the Muslim ban is necessary.

Overall, just 45% of Americans support the Executive Order, according to the poll by US firm Public Policy Polling.

And 48% believe the intention of the Order was to stop Muslims coming into the country.

Do you think the intent of Donald Trump's order was to stop Muslims entering the country? Public Policy Polling

While attempting to defend the ban last week, Ms Conway began talking about an apparent mass killing in Bowling Green, a city in Kentucky.

"I bet it's brand new information to people that President Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program after two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized and they were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre," she told MSNBC's Chris Matthews.

"Most people don't know that because it didn't get covered," she claimed.

While it is true - and widely reported - that Obama reviewed visa procedures for Iraqi refugees for six months in 2011, there was no outright ban and it wasn't because of a massacre.

Conway was likely referring to the arrests of two Iraqis in Bowling Green six years ago that prompted those temporary restrictions.

Today's poll also found support for impeaching the president is now evenly balanced among the US public - with 46% for and against.

Some 58% of those polled believe the President should release his tax returns - which he promised to do repeatedly during the campaign, but has failed to do.

He has blamed an "audit" by the US Internal Revenue Service for his refusal to publish the documents as promised, but the IRS say there is nothing to stop someone being audited publishing their tax returns.

A whopping 62% of Americans think Trump should fully divest from his businesses. Trump has refused to sell or divest from his property empire, insisting handing it to his two sons puts enough distance between the White House and his money-making enterprises.

The New York Times, which Trump refers to as "failing" on an almost daily basis, comes out of the poll very well, with 52% of those polled saying they found the Grey Lady more credible than President Trump.

Who do you think has more credibility? Public Policy Polling

And Saturday Night Live, which has lampooned the President with increasingly vicious comedy skits in recent weeks, is considered "more credible" than the Leader of the Free World.

Who do you think has more credibility? Public Policy Polling

The poll also took in a string of Trump's headline-grabbing policies and pronouncements - all of which had a negative response from voters.

The Wall on the Mexican border? 56% disapprove. A 20% import tax on Mexico? 55% oppose.

Some 65% of those polled thought the Affordable Care Act should be kept and improved, rather than torn up and replaced - and 49% supported it as-is.

Trump's overall approval rating continues to be historically low for a new President, with just 43% approving and 53% disapproving.

It will make worrying reading for Republicans. Some 49% of those polled said they would vote Democrat if there were an election tomorrow, compared to just 41% Republican. And both Senate leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan have negative approval ratings.

While the next Presidential election isn't until 2020, Congress faces a mid-term election in May next year.

The public don't believe Trump's claim that millions of illegal voters swung the popular vote in November's election, leading him to lose by nearly 3million votes, the worst popular defeat for a winning candidate in US history.

And as Trump continues to pick fights with the US judiciary over his Muslim ban, the poll found voters were a lot more likely to trust judges than the President.

Generally speaking who do you trust more to make the right decisions for the United States? Public Policy Polling

The poll found some 64% of Americans do not think Donald Trump should be able to overturn decisions by judges he disagrees with.

Public Policy Polling surveyed 712 voters by phone and online on February 7th and 8th. Of those, 45% said they voted for Hillary Clinton and 43% for Donald Trump - which is roughly the same as the result of the election.