Stephanopoulos Banned From Campaign Coverage? Here’s What Americans Think
George Stephanopoulos, a senior ABC News anchor, was caught last week hiding $75,000 in donations to the Bill and Hillary Clinton Foundation just after he grilled on air the author of a book critical of the foundation and Mrs. Clinton. He also was scheduled to moderate a presidential campaign debate before the media found out about the donations.
Forty-six percent (46%) of Likely U.S. Voters think ABC should ban Stephanopoulos from any programming related to the presidential campaign since Hillary Clinton is running for president. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 36% disagree and oppose banning him from presidential campaign coverage. Eighteen percent (18%) are undecided.
Sixty-six percent (66%) of Republicans and unaffiliated voters by a narrower 45% to 38% margin think the one-time senior Clinton White House official should be banned from presidential campaign coverage. Among Democrats, 30% say Stephanopoulos should be banned from covering the presidential race, but 50% disagree; 20% are undecided.
Thirty-four percent (34%) of all voters say they are less likely to believe the reporting on ABC News because Stephanopoulos failed to disclose this seeming conflict of interest. Sixteen percent (16%) say they are more likely to believe in ABC News’ reporting. Forty-two percent (42%) say the Stephanopoulos incident will have no impact on their confidence in ABC’s reporting.
In February, 40% of Americans said NBC News anchor Brian Williams had to go for being caught in a lie. Just as many (40%) said they are less likely to believe the reporting on NBC News because Williams didn’t tell the truth. (Read more from “Here’s the Amount of Americans Who Want Stephanopoulos Banned From Campaign Coverage” HERE)
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