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POLITICS

Voters Say Media Focuses on Issues With Biden, Controversy With Trump

Voters think the media is a lot more interested in selling you Joe Biden’s positions than it is in letting you know where President Trump stands on the issues. Controversy’s the key when it comes to media coverage of Trump.

In covering Biden, 67% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the media is more interested in where he stands on the issues than in creating controversies about him. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that only 19% think the media is more interested in Biden controversies. Thirteen percent (13%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

By contrast, only 41% think the media is more interested in where Trump stands on the issues. Forty-nine percent (49%) say they are more focused on creating controversies about him. Ten percent (10%) are not sure.

Even among Democrats, just 53% feel the media is more interested in where Trump stands on the issues, compared to 73% who feel that way about media coverage of Biden.

Most Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party say the media is more interested in creating controversies when it comes to Trump but more interested in the issues when it comes to his Democrat rival.

When it comes to candidates in general, 66% of voters believe the media is more interested in creating controversies about them than in reporting where they stand on the issues. Just 27% think the issues are more important for the media.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted September 7-8, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

The latest results are no surprise given that voters still think most news reporters are biased and will continue to help Biden a lot more than Trump in their coverage of the presidential campaign.

Voters saw a similar pro-Democrat bias in the two previous presidential elections. In July 2016, 50% said most reporters would try to help Hillary Clinton versus 11% who would try to help Trump more. In the fall of 2012, 51% expected most reporters to try to help Barack Obama, while only nine percent (9%) thought they would be biased in favor of his GOP opponent Mitt Romney.

Voters in nearly every demographic category agree that the media is more interested in issues when it comes to Biden and controversy when it comes to Trump.

Seventy-nine percent (79%) of voters who Strongly Approve of the job Trump is doing say the media is more interested in creating controversies about him. When it comes to Biden, 65% of these voters say the media focus is on where he stands on the issues.

Among those who Strongly Disapprove of the president’s job performance, 61% think the media is most focused on the issues when dealing with Trump, while 78% say Biden’s media coverage is issue-focused.

With less than two months until Election Day, Biden holds a slight two-point lead over Trump in the latest Rasmussen Reports’ weekly White House Watch survey. But Trump voters appear to be hiding their vote again this election cycle.

Most voters say the upcoming presidential election is about Trump and rate Biden’s agenda of secondary importance.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted September 7-8, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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