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Most Voters Say Hunter Biden’s ‘Laptop From Hell’ Still an Important Story

The abandoned laptop that revealed Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealing remains an important story, according to voters, many of whom think it could have changed the 2020 election.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 63% of Likely U.S. voters believe the story about Hunter Biden’s laptop containing emails about his business dealings is important, including 44% who think the story is Very Important. Thirty-four percent (34%) don’t believe the story is important, including 17% who say it’s Not At All important. These findings are only slightly changed from March. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Mark Zuckerberg recently said a warning from the FBI about “Russian propaganda” caused Facebook to censor the story about Hunter Biden’s laptop in the weeks before the 2020 election.  Forty-eight percent (48%) of voters say if the media had fully reported the story about Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 election, it’s unlikely Joe Biden would have been elected president. Forty-six percent (46%) don’t think it’s likely the story would have changed the election results.

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The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on August 31-September 1, 2022 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.

Sixty-two percent (62%) believe it’s likely that Joe Biden was consulted about and perhaps profited from his son Hunter's overseas business deals including at least one involving a company in mainland China, including 47% who think it’s Very Likely. Thirty-three percent (33%) don’t think it’s likely Biden was consulted about his son’s deals.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of voters have closely followed news reports about Hunter Biden, including 38% who have followed the news Very Closely. Among those who have Very Closely followed news about Hunter Biden, 77% believe the story about Hunter’s laptop is Very Important and 76% think it’s Very Likely that Joe Biden was consulted about and perhaps profited from Hunter’s foreign business deals.

Eighty-five percent (85%) of Republicans, 46% of Democrats and 61% of voters not affiliated with either major party consider the story about Hunter Biden’s laptop at least somewhat important. Eighty-two percent (82%) of Republicans, 42% of Democrats and 62% of unaffiliated voters think it is at least somewhat likely that Joe Biden was consulted about and perhaps profited from Hunter's overseas business deals.

Sixty-six percent (66%) of Republicans believe it is unlikely Joe Biden would have been elected president if the media had fully reported the story about Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 election, an opinion shared by 27% of Democrats and 50% of unaffiliated voters.

Sixty-two percent (62%) of whites, 48% of black voters and 68% of other minorities think it’s at least somewhat likely Joe Biden was consulted about and perhaps profited from his son’s foreign business deals. Forty-nine percent (49%) of whites, 39% of black voters and 46% of other minorities believe it’s unlikely Biden would have been elected in 2020 if the media had fully reported the laptop story before the election.

More men (65%) than women voters (58%) say it’s likely that Joe Biden was consulted about and perhaps profited from Hunter’s foreign business deals.

A majority of voters under 40 don’t think that media reporting about the Hunter Biden laptop story would likely have changed the 2020 election outcome, but most voters over 40 do. Voters 65 and older are most likely to say the Hunter Biden laptop story is Very Important.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of voters with annual incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 think the Hunter Biden laptop is at least somewhat important, but only 42% of those earning over $200,000 a year agree.

Fifty-three percent (53%) of private sector workers, but only 46% of government employees believe it’s unlikely Biden would have been elected in 2020 if the media had fully reported the laptop story before the election.

The 2022 midterm elections are now less than 10 weeks away, and Republicans still have a five-point lead in their bid to recapture control of Congress.

Worries about the American economy have eased somewhat in recent months, but the issue remains a top concern for most voters.

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 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on August 31-September 1, 2022 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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We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

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