Voters’ Distrust of Media’s Political Coverage Jumps; 58% Say Reporters Are Softer on Biden than They Were on Trump

(Screenshot)

A majority of U.S. likely voters now say they both distrust what the media’s telling them about political issues and think the media is being softer on President Joe Biden than they were on his predecessor, Donald Trump.

A new Rasmussen survey finds that 53% of U.S. voters distrust the media’s political reporting – a ten-point jump from the 43% who distrusted the media four months ago, in July. Likewise, the percentage saying they do trust political news has dropped, from 37% to 33%. In the latest poll, 14% say they’re not sure, one way or the other.

Unaffiliated (62%) voters tend to side with Republicans (69%) in expressing distrust of the media regarding politics, though 32% of Democrats are also dubious of what they’re being fed in the news.

Seventy percent (70%) of those who say they “strongly approve” of Pres. Biden’s job performance also trust political news reports, while 79% of those who “strongly disapprove” don’t.

Women voters (58%) are more distrustful than are men (47%) of the political news being reported.

Among voters who don’t trust the political news they’re getting, 76% think the news media are less aggressive in questioning Biden than they were in questioning Trump.

Overall, 58% of all voters say the news media are less aggressive in questioning Biden than they were in questioning Trump, while just 17% think the media are tougher on Biden.

Again, unaffiliated voters are more likely to side with Republicans than with Democrats on the issue. Here, three out of four (75%) of Republicans say the media are softer on Biden, with 62% of unaffiliated voters agreeing. Still, more than a third (38%) of Democrats concur that Biden is being treated better.

Results of the Rasmussen Reports survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters, conducted November 10-11, have a margin of sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.