Democratic and independent voters in southeastern Pennsylvania who say they voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 and could be important to his reelection hopes weighed heavily on the president and his son, Hunter Biden, after the younger Biden’s indictment on a weapons offense charge last week for allegedly lying about drug use on a gun purchase form. Two days earlier, House Republicans announced that they would… impeachment investigation against the president over allegations that he profited from his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.
CBS News spoke to about 30 Pennsylvania residents and each said they were aware of the legal issues surrounding the president’s son. Many said they were aware of the younger Biden’s struggles with drug addiction. And they tended to see the president’s loyalty to his son as a positive trait.
“I’m sorry about that [Hunter Biden] tried to buy a gun and lied about it,” Kurt Haltiwanger told CBS News, but added, “I think it’s President Biden’s credit for supporting his son.”
In a new CBS News polla majority – 53% of registered voters nationwide – said Republicans in Congress should not try iSay Mr. Biden on issues involving his son, compared to 47% of registered voters who support impeachment. Mr. Biden prevailed over Trump in Pennsylvania in 2020 by about 80,000 votes, a margin of 1.2%.
The investigations started Republicans in the House of Representatives in Hunter Biden’s conduct have yet to uncover direct evidence of presidential misconduct. Mr. Biden has denied any involvement in his son’s foreign work, and the White House has said the president is not involved in Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
Dawn Douglass Marion said she was “undecided” about voting for Biden again because she is concerned about the president’s handling of the economy, and she thinks Hunter Biden’s legal troubles are “tarnishing” the president’s image .
But Marion also said she has to deal with the president’s support of his son. “That’s just a parent thing. I have a child myself and I would do the same,” she said.
Some Pennsylvania voters expressed doubts about Republicans’ impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives.
“[Republicans have] I’ve been looking for years and have found a handful of very minor, very rarely prosecuted issues and it certainly has nothing to do with his father,” Dan Schatz said. “Obviously he’s been very careful to stay out . of his son’s problems.”
One concern for voters across the country, both young and old, seems to be the president’s age right now, according to last weekend’s CBS News poll, which found that only a little more than a third of registered voters think that 80-year-old Biden would probably be complete a second term if re-elected, although 55% think Republican front-runner and former President Donald Trump is likely to complete a second term.
In Pennsylvania, a voter who supports Biden, Ari Tuckman, thinks he should campaign more. “I think he needs to go before voters and show that he’s not the kind of doddering old man that Republicans are trying to portray him as,” Tuckman said.
Another Biden voter said that for her, Mr. Biden’s mental fitness is not a question. “Age actually has nothing to do with it. Both Biden and Trump are seniors, so that really has nothing to do with it,” said Elizabeth Barone. ‘I’m worried about his health. That would be my only concern, his health.”
The CBS News poll found that currently, in a head-to-head rematch, Mr. Trump has a one-point lead among likely voters — within the margin of error — over Mr. Biden, who defeated Mr. Trump by seven million votes and three. years ago.
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