An equal number of Americans are concerned about the classified documents found in President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump’s possession, according to a poll released Sunday by NBC News.
Sixty-seven percent of respondents said they find the discovery of the Biden documents either very concerning or somewhat concerning while an identical 67% held the same views about the discovery of the Trump documents – despite differences in the number of documents found and how Biden and Trump responded to the discoveries.
More than a dozen classified documents have been found in Biden’s private offices and residence while over 300 classified documents were recovered in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
Classified docs reveal wider problem:Missing classified records not uncommon
Trump also resisted handing over documents despite repeated requests from the National Archives and a subpoena, leading a judge to issue a warrant authorizing the FBI to search Mar-a-Lago. Biden has so far cooperated with the Justice Department and allowed authorities to search his Wilmington, Delaware home, where six additional classified documents were found.
In the survey, 50% of respondents disapprove of Biden’s job performance compared to 45% who approve. The numbers don’t bode well for Republicans either.
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Since taking the House majority, Republicans have begun to lay the groundwork for their promises of extensive investigations into Biden and his administration but Americans don’t appear to be as excited as House GOP lawmakers.
Fifty-five percent of respondents said they believe House Republicans will spend too much time investigating Biden rather than focusing on other priorities. Fifty-four percent of respondents also said they believe Republicans will be too inflexible in their investigations.
We asked:After Trump, Biden, Pence, are other former presidents holding classified documents?
The poll has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points among all 1,000 respondents and 3.4 percentage points among the 810 registered voters surveyed. The poll was conducted Jan. 20-24; it surveyed 1,000 American adults including 823 respondents with a cell phone.
