Those voters who believe the Benghazi, Libya affair will hurt Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s shot at the presidency has hit an all-time high, with 56 percent believing it will damage her chances, according to a new poll.
Rasmussen Reports said Wednesday that there was a nine-point jump in those convinced it will hurt Clinton, and is the first time a majority has agreed.
However, the public is split over whether the congressional probe into the former secretary of State’s handling of the September 2012 terrorist raid and killings of Americans at the Benghazi diplomatic outpost is a political hit job on Clinton.
That split comes after House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy suggested the probe had succeeded in knocking Clinton down in the polls.
From Rasmussen:
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the circumstances surrounding the Benghazi incident in September 2012 will hurt Clinton’s run for the presidency. That’s up from 47% in March and is the highest finding since we first asked the question in late 2013. Only six percent (6%) think the Benghazi issue will help Clinton, while 27% say it will have no impact on her candidacy. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided.
Forty-six percent (46%) believe the investigation of the circumstances surrounding the murder of the U.S. ambassador and three other embassy employees is an attempt to get all the facts about a serious lapse in U.S. national security. But nearly as many (44%) think the Benghazi investigation is a politically motivated effort to hurt Clinton’s chances for the presidency. Again, 11% are not sure.
Perhaps not surprisingly, there are sharp differences of opinion across partisan lines. Seventy percent (70%) of Republican voters think the investigation is an attempt to get the facts, while 68% of Democrats think it’s all about sinking Clinton. Voters not affiliated with either major party are more closely divided but tend to consider the investigation to be non-political by a 46% to 40% margin.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
