Ethical concerns are casting a shadow over President Joe Biden as he seeks reelection amid ongoing investigations into his son Hunter Biden and a presidential impeachment inquiry, with a new poll showing that 35% of U.S. adults believe the president himself has done something illegal.
An additional 33% say they think the president behaved unethically, but not illegally. And 30% say Biden did nothing wrong, according to the poll. The results of the survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reflect both a vast political divide and skepticism about the morality of government leaders.
House Republicans have launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden, seeking to tie the president to the foreign business dealings of his 53-year-old son. Hunter Biden is facing a separate criminal indictment by a special counsel after a plea deal in a tax and gun case fell apart.
Roughly two-thirds of Republicans say they think Biden is guilty of crimes pertaining to his son, but only 8% of Democrats and 38% of independents agree. About an additional third in each party say they think Biden at least did something unethical. A solid majority of Democrats (58%) maintain that the president did nothing wrong.
Americans are slightly more likely to disapprove (39%) than approve (33%) of the House impeachment inquiry into Biden. About one-quarter say that they neither approve nor disapprove. Two-thirds of Republicans (67%) approve of the inquiry, but just 28% of independents and 7% of Democrats agree.
More U.S. adults say they trust the Democrats (28%) over the Republicans (19%) to handle corruption in government. Even more — about 4 in 10 — trust neither party while 14% trust both sides equally. Most Democrats (56%) have more faith in their party than Republicans to handle corruption, while 42% of Republicans trust their own party over Democrats. About 6 in 10 independents trust neither Republicans nor Democrats to address government corruption.
The impeachment inquiry seems to have had little impact on Biden's overall job approval.
About 4 in 10 approve of how Biden is handling the presidency, while 61% disapprove.
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