Pair Of New Polls Shows More Americans Believe Christine Blasey Ford Than Brett Kavanaugh, Support Increasing

A poll taken prior to their dramatic testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week showed more Americans believing Christine Blasey Ford than Brett Kavanaugh regarding the former’s sexual assault accusation against the Supreme Court nominee, according to the Inquisitr.

Now, following the day of testimony on September 28 that riveted the nation with an average of 20 million viewers watching at any given time during the nine-hour hearing, according to Hollywood Reporter, not just one but two new polls show support increasing for both Ford and Kavanaugh — but with the believability gap between them widening in Ford’s favor.

A poll conducted by Marist College for PBS and National Public Radio prior to last Thursday’s hearing showed a gap of six percentage points in Ford’s favor, with 32 percent of respondents saying that they believed her accusations, compared to just 26 percent who bought Kavanaugh’s denials.

But a new poll by Marist for PBS and NPR shows that following her nationally televised testimony, 45 percent now say that they believe Ford — compared to just 33 percent who say they believe Kavanaugh, a gap of 12 points in favor of Blasey Ford.

A poll taken by Quinnipiac University showed a more narrow gap — but higher support for both Ford and Kavanaugh.

In the Quinnipiac poll, 48 percent said that they believed Blasey Ford’s accusation that Kavanaugh drunkenly sexually assaulted her when she was 15 and he was 17. Kavanaugh was less believable, with 41 percent saying that the current federal judge was telling the truth when he said he never assaulted Ford.

In an odd result, however, the Quinnipiac poll found that nearly half of all Americans, 49 percent, believe that Kavanaugh is the target of “a politically motivated smear campaign,” per The Hill, while 45 percent do not believe the “smear campaign” conspiracy theory.

“Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is winning the trust of American voters, who overwhelmingly believe she is honest,” said Quinnipiac University polling Assistant Director Tim Malloy. “But about half of voters say Judge Brett Kavanaugh is the target of a smear campaign.”

Not surprisingly, however, the polls found support for Ford and Kavanaugh sharply divided along party lines. In the Marist poll, 76 percent of Democrats said they believed Blasey Ford’s allegations. The same percentage of Republicans said that they found Kavanaugh more believable.

But the Quinnipiac poll found other divides in support for Ford versus support for Kavanaugh. Women were more likely to oppose confirming Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, at 55 percent against him and 37 percent in favor. Men supported Kavanaugh’s confirmation, 49-40. Race also plays a role in support for Kavanaugh compared to Ford. Whites in the poll were more likely to back Kavanaugh, at 51-40, while black voters overwhelmingly oppose his confirmation, 81-11. Hispanic voters also lean heavily against Kavanaugh, at 65 percent to 30 percent.