Voters Think Trump Is More Honest Than Clinton: Poll

New polling indicates that voters view Republican nominee Donald Trump as more honest than Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. However, most respondents agreed that both candidates are not trustworthy.

On June 1, Rasmussen Reports released new survey results that measured how voters felt about both Trump and Clinton’s level of honesty when compared to other politicians.

The survey asked likely voters whether or not they believed Trump or Clinton are “more honest or less honest than most other politicians? Or is [his or her] level of honesty about the same?”

Thirty percent of respondents answered that Trump is more honest than other politicians while only 15 percent said the same about Clinton. Twenty-two percent deemed Trump about as honest as his peers while 37 percent also answered that Clinton is as honest as the average politician.

The plurality of respondents answered that both candidates are more dishonest than the majority of politicians, with Clinton slightly edging out Trump on this count. Forty-six percent said they believe the former Secretary of State is exceptionally dishonest while 45 percent said the same of the business mogul.

The most striking result of the poll may be that the two likeliest candidates for the White House are both viewed as liars by the plurality of voters.

In an op-ed for the Chicago Sun Times, conservative pundit S.E. Cupp asserted that the trajectory of the 2016 presidential election proves that American voters may not actually value honesty in their leaders.

Politifact, the Pulitzer-prize winning website dedicated to fact-checking public officials, found that Clinton has made more factually true statements than Trump.

According to the database, 71 percent of statements made by Clinton ranged from true to at least half-true while 29 percent of her claims ranged from mostly false to “pants on fire.”

In comparison, only 24 percent of statements made by Trump were deemed true or even half-true. Politifact found that 57 percent of the business mogul’s statements were mostly false or just plain false. A whopping 19 percent of Trump’s statements were labeled “pants on fire” (compared to Clinton’s 1 percent).

Setting aside whether or not either Trump or Clinton can be demonstrably proven to be the more dishonest candidate, assistant professor of political science Kelly Dittmar of Rutgers University-Camden said honesty will not be the crucial deciding point of the general election, the Washington Post reports.

“While both candidates would do well to improve voter perceptions of their honesty, they face steep climbs in reversing reputations and will confront continued obstacles in the form of increasing negative attacks on past and present behavior,” Dittmar told the newspaper.

“As a result, they may well have to find other sites on which to distinguish themselves from each other and position themselves as best suited to be the next commander in chief,” Dittmar concluded.

Sources: Politifact (2), Rasmussen Reports, Chicago Sun Times, The Washington Post / Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons