Most Americans believe President Trump was aware of the sexual abuse committed by the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a new survey.
The Morning Consult poll, conducted over the weekend, shows 60 percent of all voters say Trump knew about the sexual abuse — including 38 percent who believe Trump also participated in the scheme and 22 percent who say the president did not participate.
Only 15 percent think Trump did not know about the abuse. Nearly a quarter of respondents, at 24 percent, say they aren’t sure or have no opinion on the matter.
There is an expected partisan divide in responses, but even Republicans are more likely to believe Trump knew about Epstein’s behavior than did not, the survey shows.
Among GOP voters surveyed, 42 percent believe Trump was aware of the sexual abuse, compared to 29 percent who say he was not. That plurality of Republicans includes 28 percent who think the president was aware, but did not engage, in the abuse, and 14 percent who believe Trump participated in the scheme.
Nearly two-thirds of Democrats, at 64 percent, believe Trump knew about and participated in the sexual abuse, while an additional 16 percent say Trump was aware but didn’t take part in the illicit conduct. Under five percent of Democrats surveyed believe Trump didn’t know about Epstein’s sexual abuse.
Independent voters mirror the larger electorate, with 60 percent thinking Trump knew about the abuse, including 37 percent who believe he also participated and 23 percent who think he did not. Only 11 percent believe the president was unaware of the abuse.
The president has denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, including allegations of sex trafficking involving underage girls, and he has called the push from victims to release files related to the case a “hoax” perpetrated by Democrats.
Trump has acknowledged that he once ran in similar high-powered circles as the disgraced financier, but he said he broke ties with Epstein years before he died in 2019.
Earlier this year, Trump alleged Epstein “stole” the late Virginia Giuffre and other workers from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, leading the president to kick Epstein out of the club. Giuffre, who confirmed she worked at Mar-a-Lago when she was 16 years old in 2000, was one of Epstein’s most vocal accusers, and she died by suicide earlier this year.
“The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement last week.
She noted Giuffre “repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and ‘couldn’t have been friendlier’ to her in their limited interactions.”
The survey was conducted Nov. 14-16 among 2,201 registered voters and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.