Have you wondered why Trump has been so lenient on Russia? The public sees Russia as an enemy or a country that is not friendly to the United States. But they don't think Trump views Russia that way.
Immediately after being sworn in, Trump tried to remove sanctions against Russia, and return to them property the had been seized by the government. He was stopped only by congressional action (and even members of his own party were shocked). He then refused to put into actions further sanctions passed overwhelmingly by Congress (and approved of by both parties).
He did kick out some Russian diplomats (spies) after the poisoning of a man and his daughter in Great Britain (which was undoubtably done by Russia) -- but even then he waited until public opinion (both in this country and among our allies) forced him to do it. He later said he thought he had been too harsh in that action.
Then there is the fact that Trump has never said a negative word about Putin. In fact, he has done just the opposite -- calling him a good leader, saying he trusted his word that Russia didn't interfere in the 2016 election, and congratulated him on his own electoral victory.
Why does Trump regard Russia and Putin as friends when they very clearly aren't? It has brought up the question of whether Russia possesses some kind of compromising information on Trump (such as the infamous "pee tape", evidence of money laundering, or some other kind of chicanery). I believe they do possess some kind of information that Trump doesn't want made public -- and it looks like I'm not the only one thinking that.
A new poll shows that 53% of the American public believes Russia has compromising info on Trump, while only 35% say they don't believe that. That's a significant 18 point gap. And that is the opinion of both genders, all age groups, and the racial/ethnic groups questioned.
The chart uses information in a recent Quinnipiac University Poll -- done between April 20th and 24th of a random national sample of 1,193 voters, with a 3.4 point margin of error.
Trump blackmailed by Putin? Hard to believe that 35% of the American public would think anything else.
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