NEW POLL: CNN Viewers 3 Times Less Likely to Falsely Claim ‘The Election Was Rigged And Stolen From Trump’ Than Fox Viewers
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A new poll shows CNN viewers are least likely to falsely claim “The election was rigged and stolen from Trump,” edging out MSNBC by one point and Fox News by 37.
As the January 6 hearings have dominated headlines for the past week-plus, the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from former President Donald Trump has taken a starring role.
The House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol began hearings last Thursday in primetime with shocking evidence that included Vice-Chair Liz Cheney‘s revelation that witnesses will testify about Trump’s reaction to chants of “Hang Mike Pence!” — namely, that his VP “deserved” to be hanged.
Fox News did not carry that first hearing live, although their newscasters did cover the proceedings on the lower-rated Fox Business Network. But, according to a new Yahoo! News/YouGov poll, a majority of Fox News viewers (53%) either watched live (22%) or caught news coverage later (31%). While a majority, that’s significantly lower than the numbers of CNN (72%) and MSNBC (90%) viewers who watched live or saw coverage later.
Fox News Channel carried the two subsequent hearings live and in full this week.
Respondents to that same poll were asked “Which comes closer to your view about who won the presidential election?” and were given the choices “Joe Biden won fair and square” or “The election was rigged and stolen from Trump.”
CNN viewers were least likely to say “The election was rigged and stolen from Trump,” at 14%, with Fox News more than tripling them at 51%, and MSNBC essentially tied with CNN at 15%. Among people who “don’t watch” any of the network, the number was 29% saying “The election was rigged and stolen from Trump.”
The facts are that President Joe Biden defeated Trump in an electoral landslide that has been reaffirmed over and over by state officials from Trump’s own party. And as the hearings have demonstrated, even Trump’s own advisers and attorneys were aware that Trump’s claims of a “rigged” and “stolen” election were, to quote his then-attorney general, “bullshit.”
And if you watch CNN or MSNBC, you are much more likely to know that than if you don’t, according to this poll.
