Poll: Opposition to Kavanaugh confirmation rises

Public support for President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, has dropped considerably following sexual assault allegations brought against him, according to a new poll released by Fox News on Sunday.

The survey found that 40 percent of respondents support his confirmation, a 5-point decrease from a similar poll conducted in August. 

{mosads}Meanwhile, 50 percent of respondents oppose Kavanaugh’s confirmation, up from 46 percent last month. 

In addition, more people polled say they believe the woman accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct than do the Supreme Court nominee, who denies the allegations.  

The poll found that 36 percent of people believe Christine Blasey Ford’s accusation that Kavanaugh drunkenly pinned her to a bed one summer while they were in high school in the 1980s. Ford says Kavanaugh groped “her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it.”

Meanwhile, 30 percent of respondents said they believed Kavanaugh’s denials of the allegation. 

Thirty-four percent of the survey’s respondents said they were unsure who is telling the truth. 

The poll shows that support and opposition to Kavanaugh splits along party lines, with 81 percent of Republicans supporting his confirmation and 82 percent of Democrats objecting to it. 

The poll also shows that Kavanaugh’s support has dropped by 12 points among independents. 

A hearing for the sexual assault charges against Kavanaugh is scheduled to take place this week, after Ford conditionally accepted GOP senators’ offer to testify on Saturday.

The Fox News poll surveyed 1,003 adults between Sept. 16-19. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.