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Massive majority of GOP voters don’t believe Biden is a legitimate president, CNN poll finds

About 70 per cent of Republicans do not believe Mr Biden is a legitimately elected president

Eric Garcia
Thursday 03 August 2023 15:31 EDT
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Biden says he will not follow Trump's arraignment

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Nearly 70 per cent of Republicans believe that President Joe Biden is not a legitimately elected president, according to a new CNN poll.

The survey showed that 69 per cent of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters do not think Mr Biden is a legitimately elected president, up six points from earlier this year. This comes despite the fact that no evidence of significant voter fraud has proven that Mr Biden’s election was anything other than legitimate.

Furthermore, 39 per cent of Republican-aligned adults believe there is solid evidence to show that the 2020 presidential election was not legitimate, while 30 per cent say they merely suspect that Mr Biden did not legitimately win the election.

By comparison, 61 per cent of Americans overall say that Mr Biden won the 2020 presidential election, whereas 38 per cent say that he did not.

The numbers come as Mr Trump is set to appear in Washington for his arraignment after a federal grand jury indicted Mr Trump on four charges for his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and the ensuing January 6 riot. The case will be heard by Tanya S Chutkan, a judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

Supporters of Mr Trump are less likely than supporters of Mr Biden to say that a candidate must share their view of the 2020 presidential election for them to support a candidate. Meanwhile, 50 per cent of Americans feel it is at least somewhat likely that elected officials will successfully overturn election results if their party does not win.

Similarly, 58 per cent of Americans say that they are a little confident or not confident at all that elections reflect the will of the public, compared to 42 per cent who say they are at least somewhat confident that elections reflect the will of the public.

And only 44 per cent of Americans approve of Mr Biden’s work on protecting democracy, compared to 55 per cent who disapprove. In December, the number was almost tied.

SSRS surveyed 1,279 respondents between 1 July and 31 July, with 1160 respondents answering via the internet and 119 responding by phone.

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