Focus groups: N.C. swing voters oppose Biden impeachment inquiry
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
President Biden and his son Hunter after attending mass at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Johns Island, S.C., on Aug. 13, 2022. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images
None of the North Carolina swing voters who participated in our latest Engagious/Sago focus groups support an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
Why it matters: Interviews with participants who have voted for both Biden and former President Trump suggest they aren't convinced the current president was involved in activity worthy of removal from office.
- Axios sat in on two Engagious/Sago online focus groups Tuesday night with 11 North Carolinians who voted for Trump in 2016, then Biden in 2020. Two are Democrats, one is a Republican, and eight are independents.
- A focus group is not a statistically significant sample like a poll, but the responses show how some voters are thinking and talking about current events.
Zoom in: "In the case of Joe and Hunter Biden, North Carolina swing voters follow the Biblical maxim that 'neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son,'" said Rich Thau, focus group moderator and president of Engagious, quoting Biblical scripture.
- Hunter Biden was indicted earlier this month for the second time, and now faces nine tax-related counts in addition to federal gun charges.
- "I just feel like the indictments and everything that's kind of publicized is more publicized as a political thing ... it's kind of blown up more than it needs to be just because of who he is," said Michael L.
The big picture: Although a couple of voters found Hunter's alleged behavior troubling, none of them believe that Republicans have proven how it is of any relevance to American citizens.
- "It's not affecting me in any way, so ... ," said Danielle W.
- "He's not the president. I'm not voting for him," said Lexxi L. about Hunter.
- "If Biden wasn't president, they wouldn't have prosecuted him for half of this stuff," said Bonnie B.
Between the lines: Hunter Biden slammed House Republicans for their impeachment inquiry in a rare public statement Wednesday, the same day he was supposed to appear for a deposition behind closed doors.
- "Let me state as clearly as I can, my father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with the Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist," he said.
- Hunter, whom Republicans are now vowing to hold in contempt of Congress, has said he would be willing to testify publicly before the House Oversight Committee, but not behind closed doors.
The bottom line: Swing voters largely believe that Republicans' actions are politically motivated and primarily rooted in an attempt to hurt Biden's re-election chances.
- "I really largely think that a lot of the talk about impeachment inquiries and corruptness of the Bidens is political posturing and it's noise," said John E.
- In September, most Pennsylvania swing voters in our focus groups said Republicans' impeachment inquiry into the president was largely in retaliation for Democrats impeaching Trump.
