Poll: Americans disagree with Comey firing

More than half of Americans disagree with President Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, according to a Fox News poll released Wednesday.

Fifty-three percent said that the former top cop should not have been ousted from the FBI, according to the poll, while 34 percent said Trump made the right choice in ousting Comey.

More than two-thirds of respondents — 68 percent — also applauded the Justice Department’s decision last week to appoint a special counsel to oversee the investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the outcome of the presidential election. Twenty-nine percent did not approve.

{mosads}Trump has faced mounting controversies in recent weeks surrounding his decision to fire Comey amid an FBI investigation into Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election. News reports last week revealed that Trump had told visiting Russian officials that ousting Comey relieved him of “great pressure” because of the investigation.

A New York Times report last week also revealed that Trump had asked Comey in February to drop the FBI’s investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has since appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the Russia probe.

The Fox News poll also found that 61 percent of Americans are concerned about Russian meddling in U.S. affairs. The intelligence community concluded in a report made public in January that Moscow had worked to influence the 2016 election in favor of Trump.

While Trump’s job approval has fallen since last month’s poll — to 40 percent of voters approving of the job Trump is doing — his support among Republicans remains firm. Forty-four percent total, and 84 percent of Republicans, say the president is doing what they elected him to do and “shaking up” Washington.