(LifeSiteNews) – A new Rasmussen poll released Thursday conducted the week after the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) launched a raid on former president Donald Trump’s Palm Beach estate found that a majority of Americans view the agency as President Joe Biden’s “personal gestapo,” agreeing with a statement made in November by former Trump advisor Roger Stone.
According to the poll, 53% of likely voters agree with Stone, among whom 34% strongly agree with Stone. The number marks an increase from a poll conducted in December, which found that 46% of likely voters agreed with Stone’s assessment.
Good Morning !
“a majority of Americans, 53%, view the FBI as “Joe Biden‘s personal Gestapo,” according to a new Rasmussen poll out Thursday.”
Liberals’ FBI trust is a real gut buster https://t.co/QCdTUk61nl via @nypost
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) August 18, 2022
The poll also found that most Republicans have a negative opinion of the FBI after the raid, with only 30% of Republicans holding a favorable view of the agency, down from 38% in December. Among Republicans with an unfavorable view of the agency, 49% have a very unfavorable view.
The poll also found that 75% of Democrats hold a favorable view of the FBI, up from 63% in December, and that opinions on the FBI changed for independents, with 50% of independents holding an unfavorable view of the agency, while 45% hold a favorable view.
READ: Trump tells Fox News US is in ‘very dangerous’ place following FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago residence
Last November, Stone said in an interview with John Catsamitidis on 77 WABC radio that “We have a group of politicized thugs at the top of the FBI, who are using the FBI – and I hate to say it – as Joe Biden’s personal Gestapo.” Stone also compared subpoenas delivered to him by federal agencies to press releases and were disclosed to the press before his lawyers received them.
Stone was convicted of several felony offenses for obstructing investigations into Trump. Trump pardoned Stone in the final days of his presidency after commuting his sentence to time served.
The poll was conducted after the FBI raid on former President Trump’s Palm Beach estate Mar-A-Lago earlier this month. Trump released a statement as the FBI conducted the raid, saying “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”
We truly live in a third world country! https://t.co/TBLcGk43j0
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) August 8, 2022
“It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections,” Trump wrote.
Republicans reacted to the raid with criticism. South Dakota governor Kristi Noem tweeted that “The FBI raid on President Trump’s home is an unprecedented political weaponization of the Justice Department. They’ve been after President Trump as a candidate, as President, and now as a former President. Using the criminal justice system in this manner is un-American.”
The FBI raid on President Trump’s home is an unprecedented political weaponization of the Justice Department. They’ve been after President Trump as a candidate, as President, and now as a former President. Using the criminal justice system in this manner is un-American.
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) August 9, 2022
Florida Senator Marco Rubio tweeted that “Using government power to persecute political opponents is something we have seen many times from 3rd world Marxist dictatorships But never before in America.” “After today’s raid on Mar A Lago what do you think the left plans to use those 87,000 new IRS agents for?” he went on to ask.