Half of Americans believe President Donald Trump was involved in crimes allegedly committed by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and a similar share believe the president is trying to cover up those alleged crimes, according to a new YouGov/Economist poll.
The survey of more than 1,700 U.S. adult citizens found that three in 10 respondents do not believe Trump was involved in crimes allegedly committed by Epstein, while 21% said they were unsure. By party affiliation, 13% of Republicans believe Trump was involved, compared with more than half of independents and 86% of Democrats.
Meanwhile, 85% of respondents — including 94% of Democrats and 84% of Republicans — believe “powerful elites” helped Epstein abuse young girls and protected him, and that those people need to be investigated.
RELATED STORY | Trump defends Bondi after fiery testimony on Epstein files, slams Democrats
Several powerful men appear in the millions of Epstein-related documents recently released by the Justice Department, including former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Britain’s former Prince Andrew, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trump.
Trump has not been accused of criminal activity related to Epstein, though he does appear in the files multiple times. Earlier this month, he urged the country to move on from the matter.
“I think it’s really time for the country to get on to something else. Now that nothing came out about me, other than it was a conspiracy against me, literally, by Epstein and other people,” the president said. “But I think it’s time now for the country to maybe get on to something else, like healthcare, or something the people care about.”
