--- title: Donald Trump Poll: Most Think He's Abusing His Power description: A new poll found that 54% of Americans believe President Donald Trump is "abusing the powers of his office." canonical: https://time.com/4792782/donald-trump-quinnipiac-poll-abusing-power-james-comey/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-24T18:07:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:04:03.687Z article:section: Politics og:title: Poll: 54% of Americans Believe President Trump Is Abusing His Power og:description: 62% say the House should investigate his decision to fire James Comey og:url: https://time.com/4792782/donald-trump-quinnipiac-poll-abusing-power-james-comey/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt394f46408f87f9c4/6988cebf0b72e3b3766edf4b/trump1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2426 og:image:height: 1365 og:image:alt: ITALY-US-DIPLOMACY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Poll: 54% of Americans Believe President Trump Is Abusing His Power twitter:description: 62% say the House should investigate his decision to fire James Comey twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt394f46408f87f9c4/6988cebf0b72e3b3766edf4b/trump1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Poll: 54% of Americans Believe President Trump Is Abusing His Power > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=e5aa0a24-7804-4bb0-96a4-b6539f8c9ef6&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Comparing James Comey's Firing to Richard Nixon [Watch (HLS stream): Comparing James Comey's Firing to Richard Nixon](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rzpxxq3y.m3u8) (1:55)  _Published 2017-05-11. When President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, people were quick to cry Nixon._ by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 24, 2017 6:07 PM UTC When President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, people were quick to cry Nixon. by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 24, 2017 6:07 PM UTC A [new poll](https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2460) found that 54% of Americans believe President [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4792568/donald-trump-budget-cuts-mick-mulvaney/) is “abusing the powers of his office.” The [Quinnipiac poll](https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2460) found that 54% disapprove of Trump firing former FBI Director [James Comey](http://time.com/4776388/james-comey-fired-trump-interview/). The same percentage do not believe “Trump’s claim that Comey told him on three separate occasions that the president was not under investigation.” Fifty-five percent believe Trump asked Comey to drop the investigation of former National Security Advisor [Michael Flynn](http://time.com/4791661/michael-flynn-senate-intelligence-committee-business-subpoena/). A Quinnipiac representative said that this is the first time the polling institution has asked Americans about a president abusing his power. A total of 62%, say the House of Representatives should investigate the matter, and even more, 66%, support “appointing a special prosecutor to lead a criminal investigation into the potential coordination between some of Donald Trump’s campaign advisors and the Russian government.” ([Robert Mueller](http://time.com/4783549/robert-mueller-fbi-special-counsel-donald-trump-russia/) was appointed as special counsel during the polling period. It is unclear how that affected polling.) Sixty-eight percent believe potential Russian interference in the 2016 election is a “very important” or “somewhat important” issue. The poll was conducted from May 17 to 23 and included 1,404 voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points. ## Transcript Well I'm not a crook. On October 20th, 1973, President Nixon ordered Justice Department officials to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox who had been appointed to investigate the Watergate scandal. Both the attorney general and the deputy attorney general refused the president's orders and resigned. Nixon's new acting attorney general. Robert Bork complied and fired Cox, which effectively dismantled the investigation. Cox's firing prompted heavy criticism, and was seen as a key point in the events that led to Nixon's eventual resignation. [ MUSIC ] I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford Will be sworn in as president, at that hour, in this office. More than 40 years later, the Trump Administration has been clouded by an ongoing FBI investigation into potential communications between members of his campaign, and Russia during the 2016 election. The FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission Is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Trump fired James Comey shortly after Comey requested more resources for the agency's Russia probe. Why did you fire Director Comey? Because he wasn't doing a good job, very simply. He was not doing a good job. But while many people have drawn parallels, historians note the two situations are not exactly the same, as Nixon did not fire the head of the FBI. 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