Recent NBC LX/YouGov data finds voters are split on whether President-Elect Joe Biden should direct his administration to investigate President Trump of criminal behavior during his time in office (28% say he should, 28% say he should direct them NOT to).
We asked our YouGov Chat users to dig deeper and share what they think about the issue – and why. Join the conversation here.
“No one is immune. Set a precedent.”
For those who say Biden should direct his administration to investigate Trump, many say that no one is above the law – even those in the Oval Office.
- “Because no president sitting or otherwise should be exempt from the laws of this nation.”
- “No one is above the law, even presidents.”
- “The rule of law is more important than any one person.”
- “Because no person, no matter what, should be held above the law. Anyone who commits a crime should be held accountable for that crime.”
- “We can't allow anyone, even a president to act lawlessly and suffer no consequences.”
Other Chat users say it doesn’t hurt to try and say it is important to unveil the truth...
- “To ensure no crimes were committed. Frankly, each president should be investigated, this is not unique to Trump.”
- “Better safe than sorry...”
- “We need to know the truth.”
“It [an investigation] would be a waste of time and money.”
For YouGov Chat users who say Biden should direct his administration to not investigate Trump, some say it’s a waste of resources and that he didn’t commit any crimes.
- “He did nothing wrong...”
- “Because enough money has been wasted on false accusations.”
- “Waste of time and money since he committed no crimes!”
Others say an investigation would only further the political division in America.
- “It's time to unite the country, not continue down this path...”
- “It will further divide the country.”
- “No reason to drag out political division.”
- “It is time to heal this country. We are divided enough.”
- “Move on from a bad chapter in American history.”
Some YouGov Chat users say it’s time to move on, and that there are other issues that the country should focus on.
- “We have better things that need to be addressed and taken care of.”
- “Get on with governing!”
“He should stay out of it and let the Department of Justice do their job.”
Other YouGov Chat users say Biden should not give his administration direction one way or the other – citing that he should leave it up to the Department of Justice.
- “Because that is the role of the Justice Department.”
- “Let the Justice Department do their Job. Keep politics out of it.”
- “Because the Justice Department should be able to make such determinations independently.”
- “Leave it up to DOJ. Biden will have his hands full...”
Some say President-Elect Joe Biden should not give any direction as it would look too political and polarize potential investigations.
- “To reduce polarization of the investigation.”
- “Giving the direction would divide the country.”
- “It could look to be politically motivated. Let the justice department do their job independently.”
- “It will look too political”
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Every day, members of YouGov Chat are asked to share their opinion on a topic in the news. We allow anyone to take part in these chats, and do not display or weight results in real-time. Instead, to make the experience informative but still interactive, the chat displays weighted data from YouGov Direct to show them how the rest of the country voted. This enables us to pose the question to all, while retaining data accuracy and validity when communicating results.
YouGov Chat seeks to add to the ‘what?’ (the quantitative poll result) by finding the ‘why?” (qualitative open ends) in a member’s own words. Learn more about YouGov Chat here.
Image: YouGov
