Honesty And Ethics In The Professions (1976 Thru 2025)

 

The chart above is from the Gallup Poll.

Most People Think Trump Is Dishonest And Too Extreme

 

The charts above reflect the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between December 12th and 15th of a nationwide sample of 1,632 adults (including 1,453 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.2 points for adults and 3.1 points for registered voters.

Democratic Advantage For 2026 Election Continues To Grow

 

The charts above are from the NPR / PBS News / Marist Poll -- done between November 11th and 13th of a nationwide sample of 1,443 adults, with a 3 point margin of error.

Most Americans Say Trump Is Not Honest And Trustworthy

 

The chart above reflects the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between July 11th and 14th of a nationwide sample of 1,680 adults (including 1,506 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.4 points for adults and 3.1 points for registered voters.

Public Has A Low Opinion Of Politicians' Honesty (In Both Parties)

 

The charts above are from the NBC News Decision Desk Poll -- done between May 30th and June 10th of a nationwide sample of 19,410 adults, with a 2.1 point margin of error.

Donald Trump Is NOT Viewed As Honest And Trustworthy

This chart reflects the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between January 26th and 28th of a nationwide sample of 1,577 adults (including 1,376 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.2 points for adults and 3.3 points for registered voters.

Poll Shows Belief In The Honesty/Ethics Of U.S. Professions

The chart above is from a Gallup Poll -- done between December 2nd and 18th of a nationwide sample of 1,003 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.
 

Most Don't Think Trump Is Honest And Trustworthy

The chart above reflects the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between January 5th and 8th of a nationwide sample of 1,704 adults (including 1,522 registered voters). The margin of error for both groups is 3.2 points.
 

Most Say Trump Should Not Run If Charged With A Crime

The charts above are from a Quinnipiac University Poll -- done between March 23rd and 27th of a nationwide sample of 1,788 adults (including 1,600 registered voters). The margin of error was 2.3 points for adults and 2.5 points for registered voters.

Professions Considered To Be Honest And Ethical

 

The charts above are from a Gallup Poll -- done between November 9th and December 2nd of a nationwide sample of 1,020 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.

Nevada Newspaper Laments Lack Of Honest Republicans

 

In this editorial, the Las Vegas Sun laments the lack of honest Republicans who believe in democracy and fair elections that are running for office in Nevada. I share their concern, and believe it is a problem in most, if not all, states.

No one knows better than Nevadans when it’s time to put our cards on the table.

The Editorial Board, and Nevadans as a whole, are facing an agonizing problem. We have endorsed Republicans in the past and might do so again in the future. Yet as we survey the field of Republican candidates across the state, we are struggling to identify those who are not an active threat to American democracy or the institutions of government that have sustained our republic for 250 years.

Those are the stakes here for the GOP. For Nevada. For our voters.

Following his loss in the 2020 election, President Donald Trump told the Big Lie – that the election had been stolen from him by cheaters, frauds and a country hell-bent on keeping him out of office. Despite countless investigations and audits, no significant fraud or electoral irregularities were ever discovered.

But the words had been spoken. The lie was told.

Two months later, on one of the darkest days in U.S. history, we learned just how far the lie had traveled and just how important it might be. Following a rally at the White House, a violent insurrection took hold at the U.S. Capitol with the goal of overthrowing the duly elected government of the United States and stopping the peaceful transition of power. At least seven people died in connection with the attack, according to a congressional report, including three police officers who were simply doing their job.

Since the insurrection, Republican leadership across the nation has worked to disenfranchise voters, allow themselves to defy the will of voters outright and to allow partisan interference in the vote count. The GOP leadership’s assault on voting rights and basic fairness has been horrifying to watch. Happily, so far Nevada has escaped such corruption. But the coming election could change all that if Big Lie candidates gain office.

Trump told The Washington Post last month that he wished he could have marched on the Capitol with the rioters, but that the Secret Service wouldn’t allow it. And now, numerous GOP candidates in Nevada are saying they wish they had been there too — not to stop the violence, but to endorse it.

Gubernatorial candidate Joey Gilbert was actually at the Capitol that day, spinning unfounded conspiracy theories about election fraud and accusing those Republicans who believe the vote was legitimate of being “RINOs (Republicans in Name Only)” who should be removed from the party.He didn’t think that those who vandalized the halls of our Capitol or threatened police officers should be tossed out; he cheered them on. And he’s not alone.

As we wrote last October, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo disgraced himself by not condemning the violent right-wing groups that have been welcomed into the Nevada GOP, leaving Southern Nevadans to wonder whether their sheriff will protect and serve everyone in our community regardless of political persuasion.

Of the five leading Republican candidates for the governorship of Nevada, every one of them has gone on record as both supporting and contributing to the Big Lie. In doing so, they have all made a choice to subvert our democracy, undermine the integrity of our elections, and ignore the Constitution of the United States.

Will GOP leaders stand up for the rule of law and free and fair elections by rejecting autocracy and lies? Or will they continue to debase themselves and their formerly great party by kneeling to their unhinged demigod, Donald Trump, and his dreams of authoritarianism.

We pray this type of anti-democratic leadership does not represent the entirety of those candidates seeking office under the Republican banner in the Silver State. After all, this is the state that just seven years ago found common ground and reelected Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval with a staggering 70.5% of the vote.

Sandoval proved to be a fair, effective and honorable governor. And had the party not lurched into insanity, he would be considered a compelling GOP candidate for president in 2024. In today’s GOP, he wouldn’t stand a chance because honor and fairness doesn’t win primaries in the GOP anymore.

As we are working on evaluations for our primary endorsements, we are pained to admit that it’s difficult to find honesty and integrity in the GOP hopefuls on this ballot.

If you are a Republican running for office who believes in truth, believes that the last election was fair, who rejects the deranged calls to destroy our democracy, we need to hear from you. Nevada needs to hear from you. We want to endorse sanity, honesty, integrity and moderation.

As it stands right now, voters are faced with a slate of GOP candidates — nearly across the board — who aren’t fit for elective office because they buy into the Big Lie and its attempt to derail democracy. We hate finding people in the public sphere who want to destroy the very elections they now seek to win. We hate efforts to disenfranchise voters and rig future elections. We yearn for a dignified, honest and pro-democracy Republican leadership. We yearn for the Republicans of years past. Patriots, not insurrectionists.

So please, if you are such a Republican and are running for office, stand proud and reach out to us. We want to present a list of heroes trying to rescue their party from the madness afflicting it.We want to share your perspective with our readers and let them know that Republican candidates for office still exist who believe in the Constitution, who believe in democracy, and who believe that the peaceful transition of power among our duly elected officials is a hallmark of what not only has made America great in the past, but what can help us continue to be a great country moving forward.

Perception Of Honesty And Ethics In Professions

 

The chart above is from the Gallup Poll -- done between December 1st and 16th of a nationwide sample of 811 adults, and has a 4 point margin of error.

Cheney exhibits Political Courage As GOP Ousts Her

I agree with Rep. Liz Cheney on almost nothing. She is a die-hard conservative and I am a proud progressive. The times where we agree on policy are few and very far between.

But I can recognize political courage when I see it. "Political Courage" is doing the right thing even when it could cost you politically.  And it is something Cheney has exhibited recently.

She has been vocal in opposing Donald Trump -- believing he has been bad for her party. She derided him for instigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol Building, and she has been vocal in fighting Trump's "big lie" (that he won the 2020 election and was ousted by massive voter fraud). 

But those things are a sin in the current Republican Party. They no longer value truth, the rule of law, or the Constitution. They sacrifice those beliefs to pay homage to Donald Trump, and whatever Trump does or says is OK with them.

They defended him when he violated the Constitution and was impeached. They went along with his thousands of lies, including the big lie about the election.

And to prove their loyalty to Trump, they have now ousted Cheney from her leadership position among House Republicans.

But Cheney is not backing down. She continues to tel the truth they don't want to hear. That's because she is trying to rescue her party from the clutches of a demagogue. It will be a long road for her, and could even result in her losing her House seat in 2022. But I wish her luck, and I hope she succeeds in her quest.

While I don't agree with her policy positions, I do believe the country needs at least two political parties for democracy to work. That allows debate, negotiation, and compromise for the good of the country. That has worked well for the U.S. for a couple of centuries now.

Cheney has called the Constitution and rule of law to be conservative principles. She is right, but they are also principles embraced by progressives and moderates. They are the bedrock principles that nourish our democracy. The country needs for the Republican Party to return to a belief in those principles.

Trump Shows He Has No Class By Continuing To Lie

Most of us have known for quite a while that class and honor are attributes that Donald Trump doesn't have. And he seems determined to prove that in his last few days in office. He continues to claim he won the election, even though all news outlets have declared Biden the winner (even Fox News).

Both by twitter (see above) and statements released (see below), Trump continues to lie. He is claiming that many of Biden's votes were illegal (fraudulent). But no election's division, in either a red or blue state, has claimed they found any kind of fraud.

Trump needs to concede, as presidents of both parties have done in the past, but his rampant narcissism won't allow that. He simply cannot admit he lost. But in refusing to do so, he is only hurting himself. History will not view this kindly.

Who Does Public Trust To Give Them Medical Advice?

The chart above reflects the results of the new Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between July 19th and 21st of a national sample of 1,500 adults (including 1,222 registered voters). The margin of error for both adults and registered voters is 3.2 points.

Donald Trump has resumed giving updates on the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, but this time he is doing it alone -- without any doctors, public health officials, or the CDC.

This is probably a big mistake, because most people consider him dishonest and untrustworthy (see chart below).

When asked who they trusted to give them medical advice (see chart above), Trump was the least trusted. Joe Biden was trusted a bit more, and both Dr. Fauci and the CDC were trusted a lot more.

Americans Still Consider Donald Trump To Be Dishonest

The chart above reflects the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between June 14th and 16th of a national sample of 1,500 adults (including 1,160 registered voters). The margin of error for adults is 3.2 points, and for registered voters is 3.5 points.

The chart above reflects the results of the Quinnipiac University Poll -- done between June 11th and 15th of a national sample of 1,332 registered voters, with a margin of error of 2.7 points.

Have Bloomberg & Steyer Been Totally Honest About Taxes?

W e know Donald Trump has been dishonest about his taxes. During the 2016 campaign, he promised to release his tax returns. He has still not done that over three years later.

The two billionaires running for the Democratic presidential nomination have excoriated Trump for that, and bragged about releasing their own tax returns. Is that true? Well, partially.

Here is what the fact-checkers for The Washington Post have to say about that:

The two billionaires in the Democratic primary were not as transparent with their tax returns as they let on in these remarks.

Bloomberg, who is ranked as the 10th-richest person in the world by Forbes, never “released” his tax returns while he was mayor in the traditional sense of the word. Instead, he allowed reporters to view redacted versions of his returns for a few hours every year.

Traditionally, candidates for high office in New York and throughout the country release full, unredacted versions of their tax returns for public consumption, so there’s a big difference between what Bloomberg did and the norm. “One year when a reporter rolled in a photo-copy machine to the viewing room, the photo-copy machine got the heave-ho,” a Wall Street Journal editor who covered Bloomberg as mayor tweeted.

Steyer has released tax returns showing he earned more than $1 billion over nine years, but “he withheld nearly every page that showed where all his money came from,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

Public Still Views Trump As Dishonest And Untrustworthy

The chart above reflects the results of the latest Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between February 2nd and 4th of a national sample of 1,500 adults (including 1,277 registered voters). The margin of error for adults is 3.1 points, and for registered voters is 2.9%.

Public Still Thinks Trump Is Dishonest And Untrustworthy

This chart reflects the results of the most recent Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between October 6th and 8th of a national sample of 1,500 adults (including 1,241 registered voters). The margin of error for adults and for registered voters is 2.9 points.

This helps explain why all of Trump's complaining and whining isn't helping him out of his current troubles (possible impeachment). The public thinks he is not an honest and trustworthy person. In other words, they know he's lying. His base of deplorable may believe him, but no one else does.

This New Poll Should Worry Trump (And Republicans)

These charts reflect the results of a new Quinnipiac University Poll -- done between September 27th and 29th of a national sample of 1,115 registered voters, with a margin of error of 3.6 points.

These are not the kind of numbers that get a president re-elected. Trump should be very worried, and so should the Republicans who must share the ticket with him.