A majority of voters think news reporters are trying to help far-left Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris into the White House over former President Donald Trump, a new Rasmussen Reports poll found.
Half (50 percent) of likely U.S. voters expect most reporters to help Harris ahead of the November presidential election, while 14 percent say they will help Trump. Roughly a quarter (26 percent) believe most reporters will offer unbiased coverage, and 10 percent say they are unsure, the survey found.
“Looking ahead at the campaign, 66 percent of Republicans, 34 percent of Democrats, and 50 percent of unaffiliated voters expect most reporters to try to help Harris,” according to the poll report. “Thirty-eight percent (38 percent) of Democrats say most reporters will offer unbiased coverage instead, but only 14 percent of Republicans and 26 percent of unaffiliated voters agree.”
The survey found that 60 percent of respondents believe most reporters try to help their preferred candidate when covering political campaigns, up from 51 percent during the 2020 election cycle. Nearly three in ten (28 percent) disagree and say most reporters are unbiased, and 12 percent are unsure.
Democrats (44 percent) are more likely than Republicans (16 percent) and unaffiliated voters (23 percent) to say reporters try to offer unbiased campaign coverage. In contrast, 74 percent of Republicans, 64 percent of unaffiliated voters, and 45 percent of Democrats think reporters shill for the candidate they want to win, the survey found.
Nearly six in ten (57 percent) say Harris has received the best treatment from the media so far, while 29 percent say the media have favored Trump. Thirteen percent are undecided.
“Majorities of every political category – 65 percent of Republicans, 53 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of unaffiliated voters – say Harris has received the best treatment from the media so far,” the poll report reads.
President Joe Biden’s strongest supporters are more likely to think the media are unbiased. More than half (55 percent) of voters who “strongly approve” of Biden’s job performance think most reporters try to give unbiased campaign coverage. Only seven percent of voters who “strongly disapprove” of Biden feel the same way.
The survey was conducted with 1,158 likely U.S. voters between August 12-14, 2024. The margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.