Over 60% say Biden, Trump inappropriately handled classified docs: Poll

Both former President Trump and President Biden have drawn public disapproval over their handling of classified documents, per a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.

Driving the news: A majority of Americans say that both Trump and Biden acted inappropriately in their handling of the classified documents, but more, 43%, said that Trump's handling of the documents "was a more serious concern."

• 20% of Americans said that what Biden did was more serious, while 30% said both were about the same.

By the numbers: 77% of Americans said that Trump acted inappropriately in his handling of the documents, while 64% said the same about Biden.

• Reactions to the handling of the classified documents fell largely along party lines, per ABC News, with 96% of Democrats saying that Trump's handling of the records was inappropriate, compared to 47% of Republicans.
• The same partisan divide was true for views over Biden's handling of the documents: 89% of Republicans said that Biden's handling of classified documents was not appropriate, while 38% of Democrats said the same, per ABC News.

The big picture: Biden and Trump are being investigated over their handling of classified documents, but both cases have key distinctions, including the volume of documents and the reaction by both presidents.

• Department of Justice investigators found six items containing classified document markings during a 13-hour search of Biden's Delaware home on Friday, Bob Bauer, the president's personal attorney, said.

Go deeper... Biden takes bipartisan heat from lawmakers over latest classified docs

Methodology: The ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted using Ipsos Public Affairs' KnowledgePanel® Jan. 20-21, 2023, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 532 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 4.5 points, including the design effect.