The first national poll assessing voters’ opinions of President Donald Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey found Americans are unsure how they feel about his ouster.
Only 29% of those polled approved of Trump’s decision, according to an NBC/WSJ poll released Saturday. Of the 800 people polled, 677 of whom are registered voters, 38% disapprove, and 32% said they don’t know enough to comment.
The poll — conducted in the wake of the White House’s announcement about Comey — was conducted from May 11 to May 13. The margin of error for the poll is 3.77%.
Trump initially said he was firing Comey because of the way he had handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server, but critics immediately said his termination was a result of the FBI’s ongoing investigation into possible collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russia. Nearly half of those polled — 46% — said they agreed on some level that Trump’s decision was based on the Russia investigation, while 38% said it about Clinton’s emails.
The responses didn’t stem from a lack of knowledge — 93% of the respondents said they had “seen, read, or heard the news coverage” about Trump’s decision to fire Comey.
The American Health Care Act — House Republicans’ replacement legislation for Obamacare, which passed in the House of Representatives May 4 — was even less popular than Comey’s termination. Only 23% polled thought the legislation was a “total good idea,” while 48% thought it was a “total bad idea” and 28% did not have an opinion.
Trump’s overall ratings, however, remain relatively unchanged from the NBC/WSJ poll released a month ago. He maintained a 39% approval rating, in comparison with the 40% he had a month ago. The majority of Americans, 54%, disapprove of the job he is doing, which is the same as last month. In February, however, the same poll had Trump’s approval rating at 44% and his disapproval rating at just below half, with 48%.
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Write to Alana Abramson at Alana.Abramson@time.com