Majority of US voters (53%) agree the 'FBI is Biden's personal Gestapo'
Saturday, 20 August 2022
Roger Stone, an adviser to former President Donald Trump, has said there is “a group of politicized thugs at the top of the FBI who are using the FBI … as Joe Biden‘s personal Gestapo.” A majority (53%) of voters now agree with Stone’s statement – up from 46% in December – including 34% who Strongly Agree.
‘Biden’s Gestapo’? Trump Raid Hurts Voter Trust in FBI
Last week’s raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on former President Donald Trump’s home has damaged the FBI’s standing with Republican and independent voters.
A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports finds that 44% of Likely U.S. voters say the FBI raid on Trump’s Florida home made them trust the FBI less, compared to 29% who say it made them trust the bureau more. Twenty-three percent (23%) say the Trump raid did not make much difference in their trust of the FBI. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Fifty percent (50%) of voters have a favorable impression of the FBI, including 26% who have a Very Favorable view of the bureau. Forty-six percent (46%) now view the FBI unfavorably, including 29% who have a Very Unfavorable impression of the bureau.
Roger Stone, an adviser to former President Donald Trump, has said there is “a group of politicized thugs at the top of the FBI who are using the FBI … as Joe Biden‘s personal Gestapo.” A majority (53%) of voters now agree with Stone’s statement – up from 46% in December – including 34% who Strongly Agree. Thirty-six percent (36%) disagree with the quote from Stone, including 26% who Strongly Disagree.
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The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on August 15-16, 2022 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Fifteen percent (15%) of voters believe FBI Director Christopher Wray is better than most of those who held the job before him, while twice as many (30%) think Wray is worse than most of his predecessors. Thirty-eight percent (38%) think Wray’s performance is about the same as most previous FBI directors, and another 18% are not sure.
Approval of the FBI, including its raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, is highest among Democratic voters. Seventy-five percent (75%) of Democrats now have a favorable opinion of the FBI, up from 63% in December. Only 30% of Republicans now view the FBI favorably, down from 38% in December; nearly half (49%) of GOP voters now have a Very Unfavorable impression of the FBI. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 45% have a favorable impression of the FBI and 50% view the bureau unfavorably.
Fifty percent (50%) of Democrats say the FBI’s recent raid on Trump’s home made them trust the FBI more, but 70% of Republicans say the Mar-a-Lago raid made them trust the FBI less. Among unaffiliated voters, 46% say the raid on Trump made them trust the FBI less, while 18% said it made them trust the FBI more and 29% say the Trump raid did not make much difference in their trust of the FBI.
Seventy-six percent (76%) of Republicans agree with Roger Stone’s quote about the FBI leadership using the bureau as “Joe Biden‘s personal Gestapo,” while 57% of Democrats disagree. Among unaffiliated voters, 49% agree with the “Gestapo” quote, 38% disagree and another 14% are not sure.
Twenty-six percent (26%) of Democrats think Wray is a better FBI director than most of those who held the job before him, but only nine percent (9%) of Republicans and eight percent (8%) of unaffiliated voters share that view. Forty-eight percent (48%) of Republicans, 16% of Democrats and 28% of unaffiliated voters think Wray is worse than most previous FBI directors.
Forty-nine percent (49%) of whites, 58% of Black voters and 48% of other minorities have a favorable impression of the FBI. However, 54% of whites, 55% of Black voters and 50% of other minorities at least somewhat agree with Stone’s claim that there is “a group of politicized thugs at the top of the FBI who are using the FBI … as Joe Biden‘s personal Gestapo.”
Men (48%) are more likely than women voters (40%) to say the FBI’s recent raid on Trump’s home made them trust the agency less.
Voters under 40 have a significantly more favorable view of the FBI, while older voters are much more likely to say the Trump raid made them trust the FBI less.
Approval of the FBI is highest among voters with annual incomes above $200,000, who are also much more likely than other voters to say the Trump raid made them trust the FBI more.
President Biden’s strongest supporters are the biggest fans of the Mar-a-Lago raid. Among voters who Strongly Approve of Biden’s job performance as president, 71% said the raid on Trump’s Florida home made them trust the FBI more. By contrast, among voters who Strongly Disapprove of Biden’s performance, 79% say the Trump raid made them trust the FBI less.
Although half of voters approve of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s raid on the Florida home of former President Donald Trump, even more agree with criticism of the unprecedented event.
More voters still have a negative perception of Attorney General Merrick Garland than view him favorably, and don’t think he’s doing a better job than his predecessors.
Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to the public as well as Platinum Members.
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