A new AP-NORC poll is out and, consistent with earlier polling results, shows that there remains a disconnect between the media coverage and public opinion over the Biden corruption scandal. Despite the continued dismissal or downplaying of the scandal by many in the media, a massive 68 percent of Americans believe that President Biden acted either illegally or unethically in his involvement in his son’s foreign dealings.
The largest group (36%) believe that the president has done something illegal. The second largest group (33%) believed Biden has done something unethical.
Only 30% of American adults believe Biden has “not done anything wrong” as he has repeatedly claimed. It seems like the same 30% has remained supportive on every issue for Biden — the same unchanging support that we have found at the extremes of every poll for both Biden and Trump.
Notably, however, 40% of Democrats now believe Biden has done something illegal or unethical in his handling of his son’s business dealings.
The percentage is overwhelming among Republicans at 96%.
What should worry Biden is that 74% of the key independent vote believes that he has done something illegal or unethical.
What is most striking about these polls is that the public has reached these conclusions despite a media that is overwhelmingly protective of the President. Most major media outlets downplayed or ignored the Hunter Biden laptop story while adopting ever-changing narratives to excuse the President’s role.
Just this week, the Boston Globe ran a story titled “Attacking Biden, GOP tries to have it both ways; He’s old and feeble — and a master criminal?” Of course, you do not have to be a genius to engage in influence peddling. You just need to be corrupt. Menendez was no Brainiac in taking cash and cars from foreign sources. Moreover, one of Hunter Biden’s corrupt clients reportedly viewed him as dumber than his dog but still gave him millions. The labyrinth of shell companies and accounts were set up by others, not the President or his son.
Despite the media running cover for the Bidens for years, the public is just not buying it. Indeed, they are not buying the media. The Washington Post recently acknowledged that it will lose $100 million and announced a new round of layoffs or buyouts.
CEO Patty Stonesifer blamed the continuing loss of readers and revenues on being “overly optimistic” about its growth in readership, subscriptions and ads for the past two years. There is a continued effort at failing media outlets to blame their losses on everything other than their embrace of advocacy journalism and writing off half of the country with its strident political bias.
In fairness to Stonsifer, advertising revenues are down for newspapers with the rise of digital sources for the news. However, the embrace of non-traditional sources of news is not, in my view, entirely due to technological or platform changes.
Much like some companies pursuing woke agendas despite opposition from their consumers, media executives cannot acknowledge that their brand of journalism may be at fault. Editors at the Post and other leading outlets have rejected objectivity in favor of advocacy for journalists — blurring the line between reporting and commentary. That was evident recently when the Post publicly reaffirmed that it was standing by the false reporting of Philip Bump on a variety of disproven stories. These are conspiracy theories and false claims that have been long debunked from Lafayette Park to the Hunter Biden laptop but the Post just declared that Bump was correct.
For his part, Bump recently became irate when confronted with his past false claims, declaring “I just I’m gonna lose my mind. I’m gonna lose my mind.”
Notably, the interviewer explained that many do not believe his reporting and Bump dismissed them as uninformed and said that they need to listen to him as the expert on such matters.
Noam Dworman asked “is there nothing we can talk about … half the country believes this stuff.”
Bump: “I know, because half the country doesn’t actually dig into the issues.”
Dworman: “Here’s your chance to disabuse people. They don’t read the Washington Post.”
Bump responded: “There’s just no point, because all you want to do is you want to have me here as the putative expert so that you can present me with things that have been debunked multiple times that I’ve written about.”
Dworman: “What’s been debunked?”
Bump: “These, these claims. I’ve written about this, this argument about his dad calling him. I’ve written about this. Did you read what I wrote?”
Dworman: “It’s not debunked. Neither of us were there.”
Bump: “Well, I debunked it in the standpoint that I’ve already addressed this and presented the counterarguments to it.”
Before leaving, Bump explained that there was little value to explaining his past claims “because you don’t listen to the press. I’m sitting here and I’m telling you, you’re wrong about these things, and you don’t listen, and you continue to insist upon things that are, you know, parsing of language. And it’s just, it’s this is why I keep saying it’s silly.”
Once again, the Post recently stood by Bump’s past false claims.
This is why the Stonesifer’s account is so striking. She assured staff that “we are working to find ways to return our business to a healthier place in the coming year.” That “healthier place” could be with more balanced reporters.
There are still excellent journalists at the Post who can restore balance in its coverage and regain the trust (and business) of readers. However, it requires a bit of self-awareness and reexamination on the part of the owner and the editors. Instead, the Post continues to write for that same 30% revealed in the poll by the AP, which steadfastly supports the Bidens despite rising evidence of corrupt influence peddling and false statements. You cannot sustain a major publication on 30% of the readership while writing off any conservatives or independents who want balanced coverage.
The disconnect in these polls shows that many in the public are simply dismissing the common narrative of the media. The uniformity in much of the coverage, particularly in the Biden corruption scandal, leaves many with the feeling of a de facto state media. That appearance is not helped with the White House giving marching orders to the media on how to attack the investigations into the Biden family while powerful Democrats warn reporters to “back off” the Bidens.
I have been a columnist and a television analyst for roughly three decades. I have written for papers like the Washington Post and worked for NBC, CBS, BBC, and Fox. I care deeply for the future of these media outlets. However, the lack of impact of the media on public opinion reflects the record low levels of trust in the media found in numerous polls. That is the result, in my opinion, of the embrace of advocacy journalism and echo chamber coverage. The “healthier place” for the media is the very place that many reporters abandoned in the past with the tradition of objectivity and neutrality in journalism.
Perhaps in American presidential history there has been a more corrupt president, but this guy Biden is either at the top or close to it.
Those among that regular 30% are low-information voters, as Rush Limbaugh used to describe them, or even worse — NO information voters which are the ‘elites’ who feed from the trough of corruption, either directly or indirectly..
As Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson) said when being questioned by the JAG attorney (Cruise) in ‘A Few Good Men,’ “you can’t HANDLE the truth.”
The new NORC poll which Professor Turley cites also shows only 33% of Americans approve of the impeachment inquiry into Biden by House Republicans. What is most striking about this particular poll result is how many in the public are simply dismissing the common narrative from Jonathan Turley & Res Ipsa Loquitor that 8 months of House Republican hearings & testimony have produced evidence to warrant impeachment charges against Biden.
Turley is absolutely right that the Washington Post recently acknowledged it will lose $100 million & announced a new round of layoffs. And the media outlet which Turley regularly appears on, Fox News, recently paid $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems for pushing false narratives about the 2020 election. Fox News laid off Tucker Carlson & Lou Dobbs as a result of the lawsuit & still faces a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic for spouting conspiracy theories about voting machines being manipulated to rig the election for Biden.
It should be noted that Fox News acknowledging their hosts knowingly pushed false narratives hasn’t discouraged Professor Turley from rushing to Fox News cameras whenever the subject of “the Biden crime family” comes up.
I myself will not read the Washington Post or the NY Times – the coverage these papers do on politics is too biased, both do advocacy journalism for the Democrats now. The papers need to get back to objective reporting. It’s okay to have liberal writers on the editorial page spout thier views, but a paper also needs to balance that with conservative columnists. In the news holes they papers need to tell both sides of the story – and let the readers decide who is telling the truth, or which side is making sense. Sadly, the Times and the Post now spin narratives, often false narratives, that favor the Democrats. Much of the blame goes the current generation of “woke” editors and reporters, they have been brainwashed into believing the Democrats are the party of “good”, while GOP is the “bad” party. It aint that simple as the saying goes. Mos of the people doing these anti-Israel demonstrations on campus or in the streets this week are “progressive Democrats” or socialists.
“Only 30% of American adults believe Biden has “not done anything wrong”
~+~
Random sampling of individuals’ current thoughts from the above 30% vs the remaining 70%:
70%: “I think galvanized pipe would work better here.”
30%: “Trump……TRUMP!!!”
70%: “Customer gave me a ten dollar bill. That means $1.25 in change.”
30%: “Trump……TRUMP!!!”
70%: “Looks like it’s time to dust the credenza.”
30%: “Trump……TRUMP!!!”
70%: “I before E except after C.”
30%: “Trump……TRUMP!!!”
70%: “Car ahead stopped too quickly. You better hit the brakes”
30%: “Trump……TRUMP!!!….stupid air bag. Front end smashed in… It’s all Trump’s fault.”
Calling them advocacy journalists is insulting to actual journalists. They are pure propagandists. Storytellers. Fiction writers. Liars. They should have no Sullivan protections, as those are for professional journalists.
Yes, my paper in the bay area, the San Francisco Chronicle, is house organ for left wing Democrats now. The mess SF has become, crime out of control, open air drug dealing, homeless everywhere, streets filthy, department stores closing, tourists staying away in droves; all of these things have been brought to SF by impractical left wing politicians. Reform is needed, clearly, but 90% of people living in SF are left wing types now. Any conservative prescriptions to SF’s problems – like locking criminals up, or clearing the bums off the streets is off the table because of “civil rights concerns.The city budget is massive – but much of it is being squandered stupidly, PD is not being funded properly – not enough officers, managers making huge amount of money (paper pushers), people are not being locked up that committ crimes, encouraging the criminals to keep up bad behavior. The SF Chronicle should be savaging city leaders for running SF into ground, but the paper actually prints these city press releases – “crime going down”, reporters keep looking for silver linings even though the city is on this doom loop that is unending.
Hear Hear!! Spot on.. Perfectly well said! Ben Bradlee and Katherine Graham would heartily approve….!!!
Notice that the poll did not ask a parallel question about Trump: whether he acted illegally or unethically in being found liable for fraud, whether he acted illegally or unethically in relation to January 6, whether he acted illegally or unethically in relation to the classified documents he kept, whether he acted illegally or unethically in being found liable for sexual assault, etc.
There is a media campaign against Trump that dwarfs the coverage of WWII (and for a longer period of time). The issue raised by this column is why the MSM mostly ignores the damning facts concerning the BCF.
The media downplays it because there is no BCF, whereas Trump HAS been found liable for fraud and sexual assault, and is facing 91 felony counts and multiple civil suits.
$20m paid to the Biden family for – what exactly?
As far as I can tell, it’s not for crimes. If you had evidence that it was for crimes, you wouldn’t be asking.
Hamas murdered children, women, families, dragged Jews out of their homes, took them prisoners, did unspeakable crimes to them, but Democrats do not believe any of these are crimes. They argue they need to be viewed in context.
Rep. Raskin (D-MD): “The brutal terrorist operation conducted by Hamas against Israeli civilians over the last week constitutes a mass war crime, a shocking crime against humanity, an illegal invasion of a sovereign country, and the most murderous assault on Jewish civilians since the Holocaust. …”
https://raskin.house.gov/press-releases?id=D4D9FE6D-22AC-488D-B809-25811448AC90
All you have is lies.
you picked a jew
Pres. Biden: “You know, there are moments in this life — and I mean this literally — when the pure, unadulterated evil is unleashed on this world. The people of Israel lived through one such moment this weekend. The bloody hands of the terrorist organization Hamas — a group whose stated purpose for being is to kill Jews. This was an act of sheer evil. …”
Do you read Turley’s column?
Oh Noooooo! Say it ain’t so Joe! My rendition of a scandal from nearly 100 years ago. (Black Sox-for those unaware of MLB sports)
Why should I trust the Washington Post or the New York Times or the Mainstream Media when, over 1 cup of coffee, I can peruse the daily news from the BBC, Jerusalem Post, Fox, Breitbart, CBS, and others to get a complete story. And if things are still not clear I can rapidly search through multiple local TV outlets, local papers, YouTube, Rumble, or X. I will glance at TRUTH since I want to keep abreast of his daily rant (mostly for entertainment), if not just to see how big a foot DJT can shove in his mouth. And I’m more conservative than DJT. After about 15 minutes (if I’m not writing on this blog) I turn to the really important stuff and go to sports. I’m still crying for my Braves, my team since 1966. Up UGA!!
Philip Bump and Patty Stonesifer are hard core Hillary Clinton “Democratic Socialists” to the very end. When you are traveling on official government business on Air Force 2 to foreign countries and end up getting $1.5 Billion dollar deals with the Communist Chinese government and payments from Burisma in Ukraine, I’d say that’s a pretty clear FARA Act violation. But Merrick Garland and little Chrissy Wray are still clinging to the belief that Hunter was there only talking about the weather ?? This is Museum grade Bul&&&it.
Willful blindness protects Biden, but the eyes are beginning to open up.
JT, you have sunk to new lows. So sad. Using poles in your column. Saying Biden used his influence is like saying there is gambling in the back room of the bar. And now you have poles to prove it, wow, that is just yaaaaaaaahn, so exciting.
Meanwhile your leader is denigrating anyone and everyone that says anything bad about him. How about your dear leader thinking wounded veterans are losers? Or service members killed in action are really losers? What a nice guy. Oh yea, that is free speech so you must follow your dear leader.
So ya, use your poles to show how smart you are JT, Sad, so sad you have sunk to poles to prove your point. Are you eyeing the AG position should your veteran hating leader get elected?
Ignorance permits you to say these things. Try being knowledgeable and then erase your name in shame.
Professor, this has got to be one of your best columns ever.
Hear! Hear!
Us Independents see through MSM and we frequent non-traditional news outlets as we find MSM activism journalism for what it is: Garbage.
Support independent media like Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss and her The Free Press.
As for the BCF, oh, we have all known of the corruption for a long time. Only a fool would not see it.
Many of us have been in positions of public trust like a university and nonprofit organizations. When I was as Associate Dean it was wrong of me to claim any authority personally or to profit from my position.
As a retired therapist I cannot mention my former credentials or use my former titles.
We know the ethical and legal requirements of a position of trust and influence and the Biden’s disregard every one of them fior big bucks.
The 68% are obviously right. At a minimum he did act unethically. Because he knew enough of his son’s involvement in corrupt government-connected businesses in Ukraine to make it essential that he either get his son to end those business relationships, or to recuse himself from responsibility for policy in Ukraine. Instead, he enabled his sons business by continuing to set Ukraine policy, and even engaged in phone conversations with the very corrupt Ukrainian business officials who were paying his son.
As a result of his unethical actions, Biden is now hopelessly compromised. His dealings with corrupt Ukrainian officials makes him dependent upon there a goodwill to maintain his political standing. Because they are the obvious source of evidence regarding the nature of their business relationships with Hunter Biden and they are conversations with Joe Biden. If they say that Joe Biden was involved in anyway, that would be devastating to him. And he knows it.
Statements by them implicating, Joe, Biden may be true, or may not be true. Joe Biden can deny, but can’t present proof, and at this point in light of his mental state, it’s not credible that he has any recollection regarding these matters. The point is not that their testimony would be sufficient to establishes guilt in a criminal case. The point is that their public statements would be devastating politically. And so he is compromised, dependent upon maintaining the goodwill of corrupt Ukrainians.
Joe Biden acted unethically regarding Ukraine. And as a consequence, he is hopelessly compromised.
The link to the poll only goes to a Fox News search result. Here is the correct link for reference: https://apnorc.org/projects/most-say-biden-has-acted-either-illegally-or-unethically-in-his-sons-business-dealings/
Believing it sent the same thing as facts.
At the risk of being redundant and repetitive, and redundant, let me say that tautology is the last thing children need from their parents, especially when they are in trouble.
Perhaps CEO Patty Stonesifer would gain a little insight if she read some history and remarks made by people BEFORE the Wapooh was even born. Do they think this remark does not apply to their readership? Maybe it explains the Wapooh financial statements:
“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” A.L.
“He’s old and feeble — and a master criminal?” (Boston Globe)
That is a textbook example of dropping the context. JB is feeble *now*. He was head of a kleptocratic family *back then*.
Does the media believe that the public is too blind to keep track of time?
It still makes sense when he’s old and feeble, and no need to be a master criminal, he is the power as VP and potus. He flew his son allover the world to do the family mafia business on air force one and air force two – he had endless meeting in the white house with his co conspirators and had his son front running the thefts and treachery of a traitor. Joes handlers or lawyers or cabinet members, any one of, could get the info and pass the policy. Joe can now be a vegetable and the money still flows in and the scams still go on.
Yawn…. as the democrat communists have total control, not one damned thing is going to happen, except…. get former President Trump and blame him for everything. Oh, and don’t forget that Chairman Joe Obiden says get those MAGA voters so we can have peace….
Only 68%???
The rest are too stupid to vote!
68% of public opinion doesn’t mean squat in the House of Representatives. All the Charmin in the world won’t help that lot.