Poll says 60 percent of Americans think Arpaio pardon was wrong
Aug 31, 2017, 9:31 AM | Updated: 2:19 pm
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
PHOENIX — About 60 percent of Americans thought President Donald Trump’s pardon of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was the wrong move, a poll released Thursday said.
The poll, conducted jointly by NBC News and Survey Monkey, said 34 percent thought the pardon was the right thing to do. Another 6 percent did not answer.
About 39 percent said they either strongly or somewhat approved of how Trump was handling his job as president. Nearly 60 percent said they disapproved and 2 percent did not answer the question.
The poll was conducted between Aug. 24 and Aug. 29. Arpaio was pardoned Aug. 25.
The pardon was divisive. Some Arizona officials said they disagreed with the president’s decision, while others agreed.
Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods said he was concerned the pardon would undermine the public’s faith in the judiciary.
“It’s dangerous to have people actively undermining [the judiciary],” he told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Bruce St. James and Pamela Hughes on Wednesday.
The poll included 10,129 people over the age of 18. Demographics showed 4,198 respondents identified as independent, 3,177 were Democrats and the final 2,407 were Republicans.
More than 2,300 people aged 55 to 64 took part, the largest age group in the poll. That was followed by 2,095 who were 65 or above and 1,984 who were aged between 45 and 54.
The smallest age group was those 18 to 24. Fewer than 900 participated in the poll.
The estimated margin of error was 1.4 percentage points.
