GOP-Led ‘Weaponization’ of Govt. Investigations Seen As ‘Just An Attempt to Score Political Points’ By Majority of Americans: POLL
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A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found most Americans do not believe the GOP-led House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government is anything more than a political stunt.
The poll of just over 1,000 U.S. adults asked, “The Republicans in Congress plan to investigate claims that federal agencies are biased against conservatives. Do you think this is (a legitimate investigation) or (just an attempt to score political points)?”
Only 36 percent of those surveyed answered “a legitimate investigation” while 56 percent replied “just an attempt to score political points.” 8 percent had no opinion.
The poll also asked, “Do you think federal government agencies are biased against (conservatives), biased against (liberals), or not biased either way?” Only 28 percent replied that the government is biased against conservatives, while 11 percent said they believe federal agencies are biased against liberals. 42 percent of respondents said they do not believe the government is biased “either way.”
The poll shreds a long-held right-wing media narrative, which claims that the federal government has been “weaponized” against Trump followers or conservatives broadly. Fox News host Tucker Carlson has gone so far as to claim that the national security apparatus put in place to defend against terrorist attacks after 9/11, like the Department of Homeland Security, has been turned against the MAGA base.
The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake analyzed the poll on Monday and noted that a recent Fox News poll found 43 percent of Americans backed the committee investigating bias in federal agencies.
The Fox poll “found 43 percent said it was “very important” for Congress to investigate whether agencies like the FBI and IRS are biased against conservatives. And 7 in 10 said it was at least somewhat important,” noted Blake, who added:
But it’s also true that people tend to like the idea of investigating things, just in general. And isolating the IRS in the question probably increased support, given what happened a decade ago when an inspector general found the agency had improperly singled out tea party groups. (Very notably, it emerged years later that progressive groups were also singled out.)
The Washington Post-ABC News poll also carried some brutal numbers for President Joe Biden ahead of Tuesday’s State of the Union address. The poll found that 62 percent of Americans believe Biden “has accomplished ‘not very much’ or ‘little or nothing’ during his presidency, while 36 percent say he has accomplished ‘a great deal’ or ‘a good amount.’”
The poll was conducted between Jan. 27 and Feb 1st and carries a margin of error of 3.5 percent.
