I’m shocked.

I mean, I thought the conspiracy faction would be 80 percent or better.

Consider this a moral victory for America’s public institutions, then. Only a plurality has completely lost faith in you!

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that only 29% of American Adults believe Epstein actually committed suicide while in jail. Forty-two percent (42%) think Epstein was murdered to prevent him from testifying against powerful people with whom he associated…

Among Americans who have been following the story Very Closely, 56% say Epstein was murdered…

Men are more likely than women to think Epstein was murdered. Whites are less suspicious than blacks and other minority adults.

Two interesting facts from the crosstabs (which aren’t publicly available). First, among 14 different demographic groups tested (gender, age, race, party), none has a clear majority of people who believe Epstein was murdered. The closest is 48 percent among blacks, the group that has the most reason historically to doubt the good faith of American institutions. But still, most people are still either in the suicide camp or open to suicide as an explanation.

Having said that, the second interesting detail is that every group among the 14 — every one — has a plurality who believe Epstein was murdered. In not a single one do more people favor the suicide theory than murder. The closest any group gets to that, interestingly, is Democrats, who believe Epstein was murdered rather than killed himself to the tune of a 42/39 split. That’s surprising inasmuch as Epstein was known to associate with Trump and it’s Trump, of course, who ultimately oversees the Bureau of Prisons on whose watch Epstein died. I can only guess that Epstein’s even more prominent association with Bill Clinton is what’s driving Democratic ambivalence. Bill’s the one who actually visited Epstein’s island and allegations from righties about a “Clinton Body Count” have followed Bill and Hillary around for ages. Some Dems may be leaning suicide here purely as a rebuke to the Clinton-centered conspiracy theories.

Let’s see what the numbers look like in a few weeks, though. The NYT reported a few days ago that New York City’s medical examiner is confident that Epstein died by suicide, although the official determination is still pending further information as I write this. The details about MCC simply falling down on the job due to overwork and incompetence seem all too plausible according to defense lawyers who know the way the building operates. Maybe it was as simple as Epstein noticing last Saturday night that his guards missed one of the 30-minute checks he was due, then missed another, and then him figuring that this was his chance to hang himself without fear of interruption.

Although, in that case, we’re still left with the mystery of why he was left alone in his cell instead of being saddled with a cellmate, as is supposed to happen with prisoners who were recently on suicide watch.

On the other hand, the fact that Ghislaine Maxwell is allegedly alive and hanging out in Boston at her boyfriend’s house throws an obvious wrench into the whole “international jetset pedos are murdering people who can expose their secrets” theory, no? If Epstein was taken out by some powerful person in order to silence him, the same person had/has every reason to silence Maxwell before she can make a deal with the feds to save her own skin. Hasn’t happened, if you believe the Daily Mail. Why not?

Via Newsbusters, here’s MSNBC’s premier daytime politics show keeping those conspiracy fires burnin’.