Special Counsel Robert Mueller leaves after a meeting with the US Senate Judiciary Committee at the US Capitol in Washington, on June 21, 2017. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Most Americans Think Mueller Probe Goal Is to Delegitimize Trump’s Win, Poll Shows

Most Americans believe President Donald Trump’s critics are trying to use special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation to delegitimize Trump’s 2016 election victory, according to a new poll.

Mueller is leading the investigation to probe any links between the Russian government and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, but many Americans think the investigation has been politicized.

The poll conducted by IBD/TIPP, a collaboration between Investor’s Business Daily and TechnoMetrica, found that 51 percent of Americans agree that the “president’s opponents are using the ongoing special counsel investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion as a way to delegitimize the 2016 election [result].”

Of those who agreed, 52 percent were independents, while the majority were Republicans at 70 percent. The poll also found almost a third of Democrats, 31 percent, concurred. Meanwhile, about 44 percent disagreed with the statement.

“Americans can see through this charade and recognize the ‘open secret’—that the real goal of the opposition and the media is to delegitimize the outcome of the 2016 election and remove Trump from office one way or the other,” TechnoMetrica president Raghavan Mayur said in a statement.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) echoed the sentiments of Mayur, saying there is a disconnect between the mainstream media, Washington, and what voters believe.

“There is an incredible divide between Washington and the rest of the country. When it comes to Bob Mueller and the Russia investigation, the mainstream media, Washington is obsessed with it. And when you get outside the Beltway, I don’t find anybody concerned with this at all,” Cruz told NBC’s Meet the Press on Jan. 13.

‘Rein in’ Trump

Most Americans also believe there are reasons behind the special counsel investigation than just investigating possible links between Trump’s campaign and Russia.

When asked whether they believed the Department of Justice had launched the investigation to “rein in President Trump,” 48 percent of voters indicated yes, compared to 45 percent who disagreed.

For Republicans, 55 percent of them agreed with that statement, while 35 percent of them disagreed. Among independents, the number was split evenly at 47 percent. Meanwhile, 41 percent of Democrats agreed and 52 percent disagreed.

Trump recently fired back at a Jan. 11 report from The New York Times, claiming the FBI had opened an investigation into his alleged Russian ties months before his presidency began.

“I think it’s the most insulting thing I have ever been asked,” Trump told Fox News. “I think it’s the most insulting article I’ve ever had written and, if you read the article, you see that they found absolutely nothing.”

The IBD/TIPP poll was conducted from Jan. 1 to Jan. 12, surveying 903 adults by telephone; there’s a 3.3 percentage point margin of error.