What Americans Think Of The Biden Impeachment Inquiry

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It’s officially impeachment season again. Tuesday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced It directs three House committees to begin investigating whether President Biden benefited from his son Hunter’s business dealings abroad. McCarthy accused the Biden family of a “culture of corruption,” saying the Biden administration gave Hunter “special treatment” in a criminal tax and weapons investigation, and that Biden himself lied about his knowledge of his son’s financial dealings.

The good news for McCarthy and right-wing supporters of the impeachment inquiry is that Americans believe, by and large, that Hunter Biden’s business dealings were murky at best and illegal at worst.

But Hunter Biden is not the subject of the impeachment inquiry, but rather his father. So far, Republicans have provided no concrete evidence linking the president to his son’s businesses abroad, although the impeachment inquiry could allow House Republicans to obtain bank records and other financial documents from Biden and his son. Right now, Republicans are firmly convinced that Biden is complicit in Hunter’s mistakes, while Americans in general tend to see former President Donald Trump’s family as corrupt, compared to Biden’s family. There is no broad consensus that an impeachment inquiry is justified, suggesting that Republicans have some convincing to do if they want the public to support their investigation.

Americans believe that Hunter Biden benefited from his father’s position

All allegations regarding the broader corruption network within the Biden family have yet to be proven. But what’s less controversial is the fact that Hunter Biden did it personally He earned a large sum of money during Business deals abroadwhich is a topic Long-term criminal investigation. Earlier this summer, He agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges of failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars in income in 2017 and 2018, with an additional plea agreement that could allow him to avoid conviction on a separate illegal gun possession charge. But the plea deal collapsed after the judge, appointed by Trump, She said she refused To “rubber stamp” the agreement, Which she said was not standard. Republicans accused the Biden administration of giving Hunter a “sweetheart” deal, and in August, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed special counsel To continue investigating Hunter Biden’s finances.

None of this is a great look for the president’s son, and recent polls show that Americans are unhappy with Hunter Biden’s behavior. Poll conducted by YouGov/The Economist The study conducted in August, after the plea deal collapsed, found that 72% of Americans believed Hunter Biden personally benefited from his father’s positions in government, including a narrow majority (53%) of Democrats. The same poll found that two-thirds (66%) of Americans have an unfavorable view of Hunter Biden, while only 17% have a positive view (and an additional 17% said they didn’t know). According to a Yahoo News poll conducted by YouGov In August, 59% of Americans believed that Hunter Biden traded on his family name and proximity to power to obtain millions of dollars from foreign business partners. The same poll found that 51 percent of Americans believe Hunter Biden improperly claimed tens of thousands of dollars in tax cuts. and An Ipsos/Politico poll conducted in August It similarly found that 59% of Americans believe Hunter Biden is guilty of the crimes alleged in the tax failure case, including 51% of Democrats. It is worth noting that only 2% of participants said they believed he was not guilty, and 38% said they did not know.

However, the results of the YouGov/Economist poll indicate that Americans believe that most presidents’ children receive some level of special treatment. The survey found that 84% of respondents believe that children of US presidents get away with things that others do not because of their parents’ jobs, and a similar percentage (85%) say that adult children personally benefit from their parents’ positions in government. At least sometimes. So, while Americans seem convinced, overall, that Hunter Biden benefited financially from his father’s jobs, and even a narrow majority of Democrats believe he likely committed crimes, the behavior may not be that shocking or unexpected.

Republicans are more convinced that Biden is complicit in Hunter’s wrongdoing

Republicans don’t really have to convince Americans that Hunter Biden deserves an investigation, or even a criminal prosecution. But this is not the important question for his father’s impeachment. To justify impeachment, Republicans would have to prove that he engaged in financial irregularities or corruption that would amount to an impeachable offense. Even now, Republicans make claims without facts to back them up. McCarthy confirmed that when he announced the investigation — without evidence — that the millions Hunter Biden earned through offshore deals were improperly shared with Biden family members, and that Biden used his official role as vice president to help obtain business for Hunter.

It is, of course, possible that more findings will emerge linking Biden and his family to Hunter Biden’s business dealings. But for now, Americans are not completely convinced by the idea that the Biden family is involved in a broader influence-peddling scheme. Less than half (41 percent) of Yahoo poll respondents said they believe Hunter Biden transferred millions of dollars to his father in a long-term scheme to help Joe Biden benefit from his position, while 26 percent said they did not believe that. 33 percent said they did not know. A similar percentage (44 percent) believe Biden definitely or probably did something illegal related to Hunter Biden, while 32 percent think he definitely or probably did not, and 32 percent said they don’t know.

Many Americans are not very disciplined For the allegations against the Biden family, which is likely why these questions come up with a large percentage of people saying they don’t know. Another poll found a slightly higher percentage of people who say that even if Joe Biden did nothing illegal, he likely acted unethically. According to a poll conducted by SSRS/CNN In August, 61% of Americans agreed that Biden had at least some involvement in Hunter Biden’s business dealings, although less than half (42%) said he acted illegally, and 18% said he acted unethically but Not illegally. Similarly, Quinnipiac University poll A September study found that 35 percent of Americans believed Biden was involved and did something illegal in Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Ukraine and China, while 14 percent believed he was involved and did something unethical but not illegal, and 37 percent believed he was not. included.

But as the table above shows, the people who really think the Bidens are corrupt are Republicans. Unsurprisingly, Democrats are less convinced that the president did something wrong, and independents are largely divided. Of course, more coverage of the allegations spurring the impeachment inquiry — and any concrete evidence that might emerge along the way — could change people’s minds, or at least persuade some undecided people.

It is worth noting, Yahoo News Poll It found that while the share of Americans — including the share of Democrats — who believe Hunter Biden did something illegal has increased since last fall, the share of respondents who believe Joe Biden broke the law has remained functionally unchanged, despite a The drumbeat of Republican accusations On the contrary. A survey conducted by Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research for Fox News It found a similar trend: The share of Americans who believe Hunter Biden did something illegal rose from 39 percent last December to 50 percent in August, but the share of Americans who believe Joe Biden did something illegal related to his son’s business dealings did not rise. Really moved. (The poll found that the percentage was 35% in December compared to 38% in August.)

Americans are not convinced that Trump’s impeachment is justified

Perhaps most troubling for Republicans is that most Americans do not believe an impeachment inquiry into Biden is warranted at this time. GBAO/Fabrizio, Lee & Associates poll conducted for The Wall Street Journal The results of a poll conducted in late August found that 52% of Americans opposed the impeachment of Biden, and only 41% supported his impeachment. Recently, Poll conducted by YouGov on September 13 It found that 41% of Americans oppose Biden’s impeachment, 44% support, and 15% do not know. In early October 2019, when the first impeachment proceedings against Trump began, Americans were even more divided. According to our poll tracker. In the wake of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, A majority of Americans supported impeaching Trump; Even a small majority of Americans have consistently supported them Trump’s removal from office before the end of his term.

In fact, corruption allegations are more difficult when it comes to the Trump family than they are to the Biden family. According to a Yahoo News poll, 46% of Americans believe that Trump and his family are more corrupt than the Bidens, while 36% believe that the Bidens are more corrupt than the Trumps. And a recent poll conducted by AP-NORC It found that Americans were more likely to describe Trump as “corrupt” than Biden. Meanwhile, In a September YouGov poll It found that Americans are more likely to describe the impeachment inquiry as politically driven in an attempt to embarrass Biden (41%) rather than a serious effort to find out the truth (28%).

This does not mean that Hunter Biden’s legal problems are not a liability for Biden, especially afterward The grand jury just indicted him on federal weapons charges. A recent survey conducted by Emerson College It found that while 47 percent of voters say the indictments against Trump make them less likely to vote for him for president, 46 percent say Hunter Biden’s tax and felony gun charges make them less likely to vote for Joe Biden in 2024. So it’s possible that as the investigation continues Conducted by Hunter Biden, his father may be exposed to political damage. But right now, not only do Republicans lack evidence that Biden is connected to his son’s wrongdoing in ways that could lead to impeachment, they also don’t have the public on their side.

Other ballot bites:

Biden’s approval

According to FiveThirtyEight Track presidential approval40.9 percent of Americans approve of the job Biden is doing as president, while 54.4 percent disapprove (a net approval rating of -13.5 points). At this time last week, 40.0 percent approved and 56.0 percent disapproved (a net approval rating of -16.0 points). One month ago, Biden had a 40.8 percent approval rating and a 54.5 percent disapproval rating, bringing his net approval rating to -13.8 points.

Correction (September 18, 2023 at 11:20 a.m.): A previous version of this article stated that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy asserted, without evidence, that Hunter Biden shared some of the money he earned through outside deals with his family. In fact, there is evidence that Hunter Biden’s family members They also earned money through these dealsBut McCarthy did not provide evidence in his announcement that it was illegal or corrupt.