New Poll Finds 71% Of Republicans Doubt Biden Won Presidency

A new poll has shown that nearly three-quarters of Republicans doubt the legitimacy of President Joe Biden‘s victory in the 2020 election.

The poll, from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, was conducted by YouGov from Dec. 14-20. It polled 1,000 people throughout the country and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

Seventy-one percent of Republican respondents said they do not believe Biden was rightfully elected to the presidency. This belief echoes former President Donald Trump‘s unsubstantiated insistence that the election was fraudulent and that Trump was the true winner.

Of this 71%, 46% believed that Biden’s win was “definitely not legitimate.” Twenty-five percent believed that it was “probably not legitimate.”

Only 21% of Republicans expressed the belief that Biden was the rightful winner. Of this group, 15% said that his win was “probably” legitimate, while a mere 6% said that he was “definitely” the legitimate winner.

Although the large portion of Republicans who doubt Biden’s win, the majority of Americans believe in the legitimacy of his election. The majority is relatively slight, at 58%. According to the poll, 91% of Democrats believe in Biden’s legitimacy, while 54% of independents do.

Tatishe Nteta, associate professor of political science at UMass Amherst and the director of the poll, said that the poll highlights the extent to which GOP politicians’ rhetoric affected the American public.

Nteta said, “Given the continued questioning of Biden’s victory by prominent Republican elected officials, conservative media personalities and former President Trump, it is no surprise that 7 in 10 Republicans, conservatives and Trump voters view the results of the 2020 election with skepticism, if not outright disbelief.”

In addition to the poll’s findings of Americans’ thoughts on the election, it also examined Americans’ thoughts on the Jan. 6 insurrection on the Capitol.

The study found that 80% of Republicans, an overwhelming majority, consider the Jan. 6 attack a “protest.” In total, 55% of all respondents considered the attack a “riot.” In addition, approximately a quarter of Republicans consider those who participated in the insurrection “patriots.” Another approximate fourth believed that the perpetrators were not Republicans but “Antifa.”

These beliefs also echo the sentiments espoused by GOP leaders and public figures. These politicians and commentators often encouraged the attack to advance Republican goals, while simultaneously blaming the destruction on non-Republicans.

Trump and other Republicans are currently under examination by a House special committee to determine whether their actions on Jan. 6, and in attempting to undermine the election, warrant a criminal investigation.