Public Divided Over Hunter Biden Business Scandal – A recent Fox News poll reveals an increasingly polarized public opinion regarding the alleged wrongdoings of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, particularly concerning Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. The survey, conducted between October 6-9, 2023, involved 1,007 registered voters nationwide.
According to the poll, 52% of respondents believe Trump did something illegal in connection to efforts to overturn the 2020 election and handling classified documents. In contrast, 23% felt he did something wrong but not illegal, and 24% believed he did nothing illicit.
The public’s perception on Trump’s actions varied across political lines. A substantial majority of Democrats (86%) and a moderate majority of independents (53%) thought Trump had committed something illegal. On the other hand, Republicans were more divided, with 18% considering Trump’s actions illegal, 35% wrong or not illegal, and 45% believing he did nothing wrong.
Turning to Hunter Biden, the survey revealed a record 52% of respondents believed he had done something illegal concerning his business dealings in Ukraine and China. This marks a slight increase from August when it stood at 50%. The perception of Hunter’s actions changed across the board, with independents (+18 points), Democrats (+13), and Republicans (+11) now more likely to think he committed a crime since December 2022.
Regarding President Biden, 40% of voters believed he did something unlawful concerning his son’s foreign transactions, up from 38% in August and 35% in December 2022. The increase since December is primarily attributed to independents (+13 points) and Republicans (+7), while Democrats’ views remained relatively steady (+2).
When it comes to fairness in the legal system, the poll demonstrated that 68% of respondents believed Hunter Biden is being treated fairly, whereas 55% felt the same for Donald Trump. Additionally, 44% thought Trump was being treated unfairly, compared to 25% for Hunter.
What the Experts Told Us
Adam Bruton, a Senior Researcher at the London-based intelligence firm Winter Circle Ltd told 19FortyFive that:“The Hunter Biden scandal is a really odd story as far as US political scandals go, mainly due to the fact the Dems are more or less totally unwilling to even discuss it as a thing.
“Even Hillary’s emails had a couple of Dems commenting that she acted poorly, even if they thought GOP attacks were overdone. The silence from the Dems reflects in part a very strict line of partisanship that exists nowadays, but also I think due to how the GOP have tried to present this scandal, which hitherto now has been fairly unsuccessful
“This poll reflects that the substance of the scandal is actually cutting through in a way that matters electorally – I think the plea deal recently with the gun charges, even though it collapsed, rubbed everyone the wrong way knowing that if Hunter Biden were called John Smith, he would probably be in jail for those charges- and rightly so.”
“I don’t think this will be a huge part of the campaign or a massive drag on Biden’s chances.
“It would help if Hunter got in front of this, accepted his punishment, and got the inevitable suspended sentence and just took it as normal.
“Moreover, I don’t think this can become a huge attack line unless the GOP nominates someone clean but pugnacious like DeSantis – Trump is too corrupt for it not to look hypocritical to independents, and the other candidates don’t have that outsider feel to really make the attack hit.”
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
