It is hard to believe that Democrats and Republicans were watching the same hearings. 73% of Democrats thought Ford was telling the truth, compared to only 14% of Republicans. 74% of Republicans thought Kavanaugh was telling the truth compared to only 11% of Democrats. Independents were in between, with slightly more believing Ford (33%) than Kavanaugh (32%) and higher percentages not sure about either.

While President Trump and most Republicans said that they thought the testimony of both Ford and Kavanaugh to be “very credible,” this tendency to believe both the accuser and the accused were telling the truth was not shared by the public at large. Only 5% of survey respondents thought that both Ford and Kavanaugh were telling the truth. 33% though Ford told the truth and Kavanaugh was lying, while 26% though the reverse. The remaining third of the public consisted of 23% who were not sure about both, 7% who believed one, but were unsure about the other, 4% who thought both were lying, and 2% who disbelieved one and were unsure about the other.