What you should know about CBS, CNN polls over Trump’s address to Congress

PRESIDENT TRUMP GAVE HIS ADDRESS TO CONGRESS ON TUESDAY –

AND AMERICANS WHO WATCHED THE ADDRESS LARGELY APPROVED OF WHAT THE PRESIDENT HAD TO SAY – ACCORDING TO TWO POLLS CONDUCTED AFTER THE SPEECH.

FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS STORY –

WE’RE NOT JUST GOING TO TELL YOU WHAT THE POLLS FOUND AND THEN ROLL THE CLOSE.

WE’RE GOING TO PULL THE CURTAIN BACK –

SOMETHING A LOT OF OTHER NEWS OUTLETS DON’T DO WHEN THEY REPORT ON POLL RESULTS.

BUT WE THINK ITS IMPORTANT TO GIVE THE FULL CONTEXT ON HOW THE SENTIMENT OVER TRUMP’S SPEECH WAS MEASURED. 

FIRST – WE’LL LOOK AT A CBS NEWS POLL.

76% OF THOSE WHO WATCHED TRUMP’S SPEECH – **APPROVED OF WHAT THE PRESIDENT HAD TO SAY WITH 23 PERCENT DISAPPROVING.

71% SAY THEY FELT INSPIRED.

OF THOSE POLLED –

68% FOUND THE SPEECH MADE THEM FEEL “HOPEFUL”.

54% SAY THEY FELT “PROUD.”

27% FELT WORRIED.

AND 16 PERCENT SAY THE SPEECH MADE THEM “ANGRY.”

LET’S LOOK AT **WHO WAS INVOLVED IN THIS CBS SURVEY.

OF THOSE WHO WERE INTERVIEWED –

51 PERCENT IDENTIFIED AS REPUBLICAN – A MAJORITY OF THOSE POLLED.

27 PERCENT IDENTIFIED AS INDEPENDENT.

AND 20 PERCENT IDENTIFIED AS DEMOCRAT.

2 PERCENT SAID NONE OF THE ABOVE.

A TOTAL OF 1,207 PEOPLE WERE INTERVIEWED.

THIS HERE (show in hand) – IS THE RELEASED POLL BY CBS NEWS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH YOUGOV.

IT DOESN’T BREAK DOWN HOW EACH **PARTY ANSWERED THE QUESTIONS.

BUT KEEPING THE PARTY AFFILIATION BREAKDOWN PERCENTAGES IN MIND –

LET’S LOOK BACK AT THE RESULTS.

DATA ANALYSIS SUGGESTS A LARGE MAJORITY OF REPUBLICANS APPROVED OF TRUMP’S SPEECH AND MORE INDEPENDENTS HAD A FAVORABLE VIEW OF TRUMP’S SPEECH THAN THOSE WHO DIDN’T.

THE RESULTS SUGGEST A LARGE MAJORITY OF DEMOCRATS DISAPPROVED OF WHAT TRUMP HAD TO SAY.

76 PERCENT OF VIEWERS APPROVING THE SPEECH AND 71 PERCENT FEELING INSPIRED – POINT TO A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF REPUBLICANS AND INDEPENDENTS FELT THIS WAY.

BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THOSE WHO SAY THEY FELT “PROUD” AT 54% – AND WITH 51% OF REPUBLICANS INTERVIEWED – IT SUGGESTS THAT A MAJORITY OF DEMOCRATS AND INDEPENDENTS DIDN’T WALK AWAY FROM THE SPEECH WITH THAT CONCLUSION.

LET’S LOOK AT ANOTHER POLL BEING HIGHLY CITED FOLLOWING TRUMP’S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS – 

THIS ONE CONDUCTED BY CNN.

OF THOSE POLLED –

69 PERCENT HAD A POSITIVE REACTION TO TRUMP’S SPEECH.

31 PERCENT HAD A NEGATIVE REACTION.

66 PERCENT SAY THE POLICIES TRUMP HAS PROPOSED WILL MOVE THE COUNTRY IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

34 PERCENT SAID THE WRONG DIRECTION.

AND 59 PERCENT SAY TRUMP HAS THE RIGHT PRIORITIES.

41 PERCENT SAY HE’S NOT PRIORITIZING THE RIGHT PROBLEMS THE COUNTRY IS FACING.

NOW LET’S LOOK AT **WHO WAS INVOLVED IN CNN’S POLL.

OF THOSE WHO WERE INTERVIEWED –

44 PERCENT IDENTIFIED AS REPUBLICAN.

35 PERCENT IDENTIFIED AS INDEPENDENT.

AND 21 PERCENT IDENTIFIED AS DEMOCRAT. 

THIS POLL IS BASED OFF THE RESPONSES OF 431 PEOPLE.

UNLIKE THE CBS YOU GOV POLL –

THE CNN POLL DOES BREAK DOWN RESPONSES BY **SOME PARTY AFFILIATIONS (show in hand).

IT TELLS US HOW REPUBLICANS AND INDEPENDENTS ANSWERED –

BUT DOESN’T GIVE US A BREAK DOWN ON HOW DEMOCRATS RESPONDED – CITING A LACK OF CONFIDENCE DUE TO A SMALL SAMPLE SIZE.

HERE’S WHAT WE ARE TOLD IN THE POLL RESULTS.

95 PERCENT OF REPUBLICANS VIEWED TRUMP’S SPEECH POSITIVELY.

65 PERCENT OF INDEPENDENTS VIEWED HIS SPEECH POSITIVELY.

93 PERCENT OF REPUBLICANS SAY THE COUNTRY IS HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION UNDER TRUMP.

63 PERCENT OF INDEPENDENTS FELT THE SAME.

88 PERCENT OF REPUBLICANS SAY THE PRESIDENT HAS THE RIGHT PRIORITIES.

49 PERCENT OF INDEPENDENTS SAY THE RIGHT ISSUES ARE BEING PRIORITIZED.

BREAKING DOWN THESE POLLS –

THE RESULTS POINT TO OVERWHELMING MAJORITIES OF THOSE WHO WATCHED TRUMP’S SPEECH – 76 AND 69 PERCENT RESPECTIVELY – HAVING A POSITIVE TAKEAWAY..

THOSE ARE HIGH NUMBERS.

SO IS THE SAMPLE SIZE OF REPUBLICANS WHO WATCHED THE SPEECH COMPARED TO DEMOCRATS – WITH MORE THAN DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF REPUBLICANS POLLED COMPARED TO DEMOCRATS IN BOTH CBS AND CNN SURVEYS.

DEMOCRATS HAD THE LOWEST REPRESENTATION IN BOTH POLLS.

BUT THE POLL RESULTS STILL SUGGEST A UNIFIED REPUBLICAN PARTY BEHIND TRUMP AND A HEALTHY MAJORITY OF INDEPENDENTS FINDING TRUMP’S SPEECH “POSITIVE” FOR THE COUNTRY.

BOTH OUTLETS EXPLAINED THE LOW DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATION IN THE POLL –

CITING THE PARTY IN POWER ATTRACTS MORE VIEWERS FROM ITS BASE –

AS EXPLAINED HERE BY CNN.

“What we know is people who tend to be fans or partisans with the president, no matter which party the president is in, tend to tune in more on speeches like this. And that’s the case in tonight’s survey as well. We’re 21 percent dem, 44 percent republican, 35 percent independent. That’s about 14 percent more republican than the general population.”

I KNOW THIS WAS A LOT LONGER THAN THE TYPICAL “POLL STORY” YOU MAY SEE ELSEWHERE –

SO IF YOU’VE MADE IT TO THIS POINT IN THE VIDEO –

I APPRECIATE YOU WATCHING ALL THE WAY THROUGH.

POLLS ARE DIFFICULT TO COVER THROUGH AN UNBIASED LENS BECAUSE THERE’S SO MANY FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN REPORTING THEM FAIRLY.

**WHO IS BEING ASKED THESE QUESTIONS BY POLLSTERS AND WHAT ARE THEIR PERSONAL OR POLITICAL BELIEFS?

**WHAT QUESTIONS ARE BEING ASKED AND HOW ARE THEY WORDED?

AND HOW **MANY PEOPLE ARE BEING SAMPLED?

IN A RECENT EPISODE OF BIAS BREAKDOWN –

I LOOKED AT HOW NEWS OUTLETS WITH A LEFT AND RIGHT POLITICAL BIAS CHERRY PICKED POLLS OVER TRUMP’S APPROVAL RATING TO BETTER FIT THEIR POLITICAL NARRATIVE –

AS SHOWCASING SELECTIVE DATA IS AN IDENTIFIED TYPE OF MEDIA BIAS THAT MEDIA WATCHDOGS GROUPS LOOK OUT FOR.

IF YOU HAVEN’T HEARD OF “BIAS BREAKDOWN” YET – IT’S A NEW STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS PODCAST THAT I HOST.

GIVE US A TRY BY FINDING US ON SPOTIFY OR APPLE PODCASTS.

THANKS FOR WATCHING OUR NEWS UPDATE.

FOR S-A-N – I’M KARAH RUCKER.

FOR MORE UNBIASED, STRAIGHT FACT REPORTING THAT MATTERS TO YOU –

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