‘Laptop From Hell’: Voters Approve Investigation of Hunter Biden

Plans by Republicans in Congress to investigate Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings meet with approval from a majority of voters.

A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports and Miranda Devine’s Laptop From Hell finds that 62% of Likely U.S. voters approve of the House GOP’s investigation of Hunter Biden’s overseas deals, including 42% who Strongly Approve. Thirty-four percent (34%) disapprove, including 23% who Strongly Disapprove. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

After Republicans won a majority in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, incoming House committee chairs announced they would investigate whether President Joe Biden was “compromised” by his son Hunter’s business deals. Sixty-one percent (61%) of voters believe it’s likely – including 44% who say it’s Very 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. Thirty-four percent (34%) don’t think it’s likely Biden was consulted about his son’s deals. These findings are nearly unchanged from September.

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The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on November 22, 2022 by Rasmussen Reports and Miranda Devine’s Laptop From Hell. 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.

As might be expected, Democratic voters are far more disapproving of House Republicans’ plans to investigate Hunter Biden than other voters.  Only 37% of Democrats approve of the GOP plans to investigate President Biden’s son, compared to 86% of Republicans and 63% of voters not affiliated with either major party. While 59% of Democrats disapprove of the House Republican investigation plans, just 13% of Republicans and 31% of unaffiliated voters share that view.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of voters have closely followed news reports about Hunter Biden, including 36% who say they’ve Very Closely followed news about the president’s son. More Republicans (54%) than Democrats (21%) or unaffiliated voters (33%) have Very Closely followed news about Hunter Biden. Among voters who have Very Closely followed the story, 72% Strongly Approve of the House GOP’s investigation of his overseas deals.

When the New York Post broke the story about Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop in October 2020, social media platforms suppressed the story. However, 63% of voters believe the story of Hunter’s laptop is important, including 41% who think it’s Very Important. Thirty-five percent (35%) say the laptop story is not important, including 18% who believe it’s Not At All Important.

Eighty-six percent (86%) of Republicans think the story about Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop is important, but 56% of Democrats say it’s not important. Among unaffiliated voters, 62% think the laptop story is important and 33% believe it’s not important.

Older voters are much more interested in the Hunter Biden story than those under 40. A majority (53%) of voters 65 and older Strongly Approve of House Republican plans to investigate Hunter’s overseas business dealings, compared to 33% of those under 40. Likewise, 52% of voters 65 and older believe it’s Very Likely that Joe Biden was consulted about Hunter's overseas business deals, compared to 37% of voters under 40.

Majorities of every racial category – 57% of whites and 67% of black voters and other minorities – think it is at least somewhat likely Joe Biden was consulted about his son’s foreign business dealings. More whites (45%) than black voters or other minorities (both 34%) Strongly Approve of House Republican plans to investigate Hunter Biden.

Majorities of every income category except those with annual incomes above $200,000 at least somewhat approve of the House GOP’s plans to investigate Hunter’s overseas deals.

Republican congressional leaders remain unpopular, even with their own party’s voters, who overwhelmingly want to get rid of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Voters overwhelmingly agree with Nancy Pelosi’s decision to step down from her position as leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives. LINK TO Good-Bye, Nancy: 68% Approve Pelosi Stepping Down

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