Worse Than Watergate? Most Voters Believe Clinton Campaign Scandal ‘Very Important’

A majority of voters think special counsel John Durham’s accusations against Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign are very important, and agree with former President Donald Trump that it’s a scandal worse than Watergate.

In a court filing last week, Durham alleged that Clinton’s campaign paid an internet company to “infiltrate” servers at Trump Tower and the White House in order to link Trump to Russia. A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports finds that 68% of Likely U.S. voters believe this accusation is important, including 50% who think it’s Very Important. Twenty-seven percent (27%) don’t think Duham’s allegation against Clinton’s campaign is important, including 16% who say it’s Not At All Important. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

In response to the Durham filing, Trump issued a statement saying it was “a scandal far greater in scope and magnitude than Watergate and those who were involved in and knew about this spying operation should be subject to criminal prosecution.” Sixty-five percent (65%) of voters agree with the quote from Trump, including 48% who Strongly Agree. Twenty-eight percent (28%) disagree with the Trump statement, including 21% who Strongly Disagree.

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The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on February 15-16, 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.

The Internet company that Durham alleges was paid by Clinton’s campaign to “infiltrate” Trump’s servers was reportedly later hired by Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of voters think this accusation is important, including 52% who believe the alleged connection to Biden’s campaign is Very Important. Twenty-six percent (26%) don’t think it is important, including 16% who say the alleged connection to Biden’s campaign is Not At All Important.

Only 30% of voters believe the news media are doing enough to cover the accusations against the Clinton campaign, while 53% say the media aren’t doing enough to cover the accusations.

Majorities in every political category – 78% of  Republicans, 57% of Democrats and 69% of voters not affiliated with either major party – believe Durham’s allegation that the Clinton campaign paid an internet company to “infiltrate” Trump’s computer servers is at least somewhat important. Fewer Democrats (33%) than Republicans (63%) or unaffiliated voters (54%) think the allegation is Very Important.

Eighty-four percent (84%) of Republicans, 48% of Democrats and 65% of unaffiliated voters at least somewhat agree with Trump’s statement that the Durham filing reveals “a scandal far greater in scope and magnitude than Watergate” that should result in criminal prosecution. 

Most Republicans (70%) and unaffiliated voters (57%) think the news media are not doing enough to cover the accusations against the Clinton campaign, but just 40% of Democrats agree.

Majorities of every racial category – 67% of whites, 69% of Black voters and 73% of other minorities – believe Durham’s allegation that the Clinton campaign paid an internet company to “infiltrate” Trump’s servers is at least somewhat important. Slightly more minorities than whites agree with Trump’s statement that this is a worse scandal than Watergate.

Voters 40 and older are more likely than those under 40 to think the allegations in the Durham filing are Very Important.

Voters with annual incomes between $30,000 and $100,000 are most likely to believe the Durham allegations about the 2016 Clinton campaign are Very Important.

Most voters think President Biden is one of the worst ever to hold the office, and rank him below his two immediate predecessors in the White House.

President Biden would lose an election rematch to former President Trump, who would win among independents and almost evenly split Hispanic voters.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to the public as well as to Platinum Members.

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