Poll: President Trump is his own worst spokesman; Pence does better job

Look out, President Trump. Your No. 2 is a more effective spokesman for you than you are, a new poll suggests.

Vice President Mike Pence was the only Trump administration official tested in a Monmouth University Poll who has a net positive impact when he speaks on behalf of the administration.

By contrast, Trump does more to hurt his own cause than help it, according to 6 in 10 Americans. Only about one-third said he helps, rather than hurts, himself.

Likewise, White House spokesman Sean Spicer and counselor Kellyanne Conway also do more to hurt — than help — the president when they speak for him, according to the poll.

“It shouldn’t escape D.C.’s attention that the vice president is seen as a better mouthpiece for the administration than the man who actually occupies the Oval Office, even among their fellow Republicans,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement.

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Opinion was divided on deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, with 23 percent saying she does more to help and 22 percent saying she does more to hurt when she speaks for Trump.

More than half the public, however, had no opinion on the performance of Sanders, who has recently been given a more prominent speaking role for the administration.

Rumors have circulated for weeks that Spicer may move to a less public role. Of those surveyed, more said Spicer hurts (42 percent) rather than helps (28 percent) the president when he faces the television cameras.

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Murray called the results the “epitome of a no-win situation.”

“It’s not as if Trump’s appointed spokespeople are doing worse than the man himself,” he said. “It may simply be an impossible task to represent this president and come off as credible.”

But the poll shows that’s not the case when results are broken out by party. Republicans tend to see all the officials tested as doing a good job of making the president’s case. Democrats are down on Trump, Spicer, Conway and Sanders as spokespersons, and a little more divided on Pence. About a third of Democrats said Pence helps more than he hurts the cause. Nearly a half said he does more harm than good.

The poll was conducted May 13 to 17 with 1,002 adults. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.

Contact Maureen Groppe at mgroppe@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @mgroppe.