More than half of Republicans believe Donald Trump ‘rightfully won’ the election and was stolen by Joe Biden in sign that president’s unfounded fraud claims are being believed
- Fifty-two per cent of Republicans think Donald Trump rightfully won the election
- The majority of Republicans, however, admit that results show Joe Biden won
- This is a sign that President Trump’s rhetoric toward a ‘stolen’ or ‘rigged’ election has worked among his supporters
- In the Wednesday poll, 68 per cent of Republicans said Trump ‘rightfully’ won because they are concerned that the election was ‘rigged’
More than half of Republicans believe Donald Trump ‘rightfully won’ the election, even though the majority admit current results show Joe Biden is the victor – exhibiting GOP skepticism that there was funny business surrounding ballot collection and tabulation.
In a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday, only 5 per cent of the 1,346 Democrat and Republican respondents thought that Trump won the election and 73 per cent said Biden was the winner.
But when specifically asked about the ‘rightful’ winner, Republicans showed they were suspicious about how Biden’s victory was obtained.
Of the 496 Republicans polled, 52 per cent said Trump was the ‘rightful’ winner, while only 29 per cent said they believe Biden had ‘rightfully won.’
The survey taken November 13-17, more than a week after Election Day, shows President Trump’s open defiance of Biden’s victory appears to be affecting the public’s confidence in American democracy – especially among Republicans.
When Republicans were asked why they were more concerned than others that state vote counters had tipped the result toward Biden, 68 per cent said they were concerned that the election was ‘rigged.’
Fifty-two per cent of Republicans believe Donald Trump ‘rightfully won’ the presidential election against Joe Biden
In a sign the president’s rhetoric against the election is working, 68 per cent of Republicans said they think Biden actually lost because the election was ‘rigged’
On November 7 – four days after the election – major media outlets called the win for Biden after enough states with enough Electoral College votes projected the win for the former vice president
Only 16 per cent of Democrats and around one-third of independent voters have similar concerns about a rigged election.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Wednesday that the administration still believes once all ‘legal votes’ are counted, the president will emerge the true victor.
‘Look, this president has always said he will engage in a peaceful transfer of power if the facts bear out that way,’ McEnany told Fox & Friends during an interview with the panel Wednesday morning.
‘But the president believes, and so too do many others, that if every legal vote is counted, he will remain president,’ she asserted. ‘He’s pursuing litigation. This president always wants what’s in the best interest of our country.’
Trump’s rhetoric toward the 2020 election, including the words ‘rigged,’ ‘stolen’ and ‘fraudulent’, have rubbed off on his supporters.
Many have even mobilized around this jargon, creating ‘Stop the Steal’ groups on Facebook with protests popping up all over the country demanding election officials stop tabulating mail-in ballots.
Since Biden amassed enough electoral votes to win the White House four days after the election, Trump has ramped up criticisms of an electron process he claims is unfair to him, telling his supporters that he is the victim of widespread illegal voting.
Trump has made similar complaints ever since his 2016 campaign.
The president has not yet been able to back up his claims in court as he’s launched several legal actions in key battleground states.
Republicans announced this week that they were dropping federal election lawsuits in Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The poll showed that more Americans appear to be more suspicious about the U.S. election process than they were four years ago.
Trump has assailed the results on Twitter, repeatedly claiming, including again Wednesday morning, that he ‘won the election’
Trump has said there is ‘widespread voter fraud’ and interference from those on the left to sway the election for Biden
This jargon has fueled Trump’s supporters, who have organized ‘Stop the Steal’ protests all over the country demanding election officials stop counting mail-in ballots
Altogether, 55 per cent of adults in the United States said they believed the Nov. 3 presidential election was ‘legitimate and accurate,’ which is down 7 points from a similar poll that ran shortly after the 2016 election. The 28 per cent who said they thought the election was ‘the result of illegal voting or election rigging’ is up 12 points from four years ago.
The poll showed Republicans were much more likely to be suspicious of Trump’s loss this year than Democrats were when Hillary Clinton lost four years ago.
In 2016, 52 per cent of Democrats said Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump was ‘legitimate and accurate,’ even as reports emerged of Russian attempts to influence the outcome. This year, only 26 per cent of Republicans said they thought Trump’s loss was similarly legitimate.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll has a credibility interval of 5 percentage points.
Source: Read Full Article