More Americans believe President Joe Biden is ‘very responsible’ for the January 6 riot in the US Capitol than former Vice President Mike Pence, according to a new poll.
In a poll released by Politico / Morning Consult on Tuesday, it was found that 13 percent of respondents thought Biden was very responsible, while only 8 percent said the same about Pence. Bidding is considered ‘somewhat responsible’ by 11 percent. Another 18 percent said Pence bears some responsibility. A 52 percent majority believed former President Donald Trump was very responsible, and 12 percent said he was somewhat responsible.
The answers to the poll varied considerably depending on the party. While 89 percent of Democrats said Trump was at least somewhat responsible for the Capitol violation, 27 percent of Republicans agree. Conversely, 45 percent of Republican Biden blamed to some degree, compared to only 11 percent of Democrats. A somewhat less conspicuous partisan difference was seen for Pence, with 37 percent of Democrats and 14 percent of Republicans agreeing that the former vice president was at least partially responsible.
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Nearly half of all Republicans, 49 percent, insisted that Trump “was not responsible at all” for the violent riot, while another 18 percent said he was “not too responsible.” Another 7 percent gave no opinion. Trump was indicted for allegedly inciting the uprising through the House on January 13, becoming the only president in U.S. history to be indicted twice.
The former president was acquitted on Saturday at the end of a Senate hearing, with a 57-vote majority in favor of his conviction that did not have the required 67-vote super majority. The 7 out of 50 GOP senators who voted to condemn Trump fall roughly in line with the 14 percent of Republicans in the general population who, according to the poll, believed he was very responsible for the uprising.
The poll was conducted online among 1,984 registered voters between 1498 and February 15. It has a margin of error of 2 percent.
Both Biden and Pence were both decidedly unpopular figures for many Trump supporters at the time of the deadly Capitol tragedy. Many of those who took part in the riot believed that false allegations that Biden had ‘stolen’ Trump’s election as part of a conspiracy with massive voter fraud. Pence fell out of favor because he refused to help reverse the election result while Congress met to confirm the results, something he could not legally do. A group of rioters was heard ‘Mike Pence hanging’ as they entered the building.
Newsweek issued to the White House for comment.