Only 2 in 10 Americans approve of Biden's pardon of his son Hunter, poll finds
FILE-President Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden step out of a bookstore while shopping in Nantucket, Massachusetts on November 29, 2024. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
A new poll shows only 2 in 10 Americans approve of President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter.
The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted the poll which shows some Americans "strongly" or "somewhat" approve of the pardon, which came after Hunter was convicted on gun and tax charges. About half said they "strongly" or "somewhat" disapprove, and about 2 in 10 neither approve nor disapprove.
To gather data, 1,251 adults participated in a poll from Dec. 5-9, 2024, and a sample was used from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population.
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According to the poll, older adults compared to younger ones approve of Biden’s pardoning his son, according to the poll, with about one-third of those ages 60 and older approving, compared with about 2 in 10 adults under 60.
This age disconnect in part relates to younger adults who are more likely than older individuals to say they neither approve nor disapprove of the pardon or that they do not know enough to say, the AP noted.
Meanwhile, roughly 6 in 10 white adults disapprove of the pardon, compared with slightly less than half of Hispanic adults and about 3 in 10 Black adults. Relatively large shares of Black and Hispanic Americans — about 3 in 10 — were neutral, the AP reported, citing the poll.
Republicans and Democrats were split in their opinions on the Biden pardon, with roughly 4 in 10 Democrats approving of the pardon, while about 3 in 10 disapproved and about one-quarter did not have an opinion or did not know enough to say. However, a majority of Republicans and about half of independents had a negative opinion.
In issuing a pardon Dec. 1, the president argued that the Justice Department had presided over a "miscarriage of justice" in prosecuting his son.
Despite the president’s decision, his approval rating has not shifted noticeably since before Donald Trump won November’s election.
The AP reported that 4 in 10 Americans "somewhat" or "strongly" approve of the way Biden is handling his job as president, which is where his approval rating has remained in AP-NORC polls since January 2022.