Shady USA Today poll reportedly found a majority say to “throw the book at [UHC] CEO” assassin

Based on a single dubiously worded question, USA Today reported that “Two-thirds of Americans think the Dec. 4 [assassination] of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was wrong, and the suspected [assailant] should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law...”

This is the poll question: “40. The public’s response to the [assassination] of the CEO of a health-insurance company last month has been mixed. Which comes closer to your view? {RESULTS EMBARGOED FOR A FUTURE RELEASE}”

Problems I see with this poll and article include (but aren’t limited to):

-Not publishing the response options for the question (#40), despite doing so for 40 of 41 of the other questions in this survey. Response options shape results so must be available to be able to interpret findings.

-Embargoing results for future release while publishing cherry-picked partial findings.

-Possible selection bias since only people who answered the phone and agreed to speak for seven minute were surveyed.

-Releasing this poll the same day as UnitedHealth Group’s earnings announcement.  

Plus the sensationalistic headline and assumption about motives in the article: "Throw the book at UnitedHealthcare CEO [assassin], voters say in exclusive poll"