Poll: Most GOP voters think 2020 election was illegitimate, but lawmakers should prioritize other issues

Two-thirds of GOP voters don't believe President Biden won the 2020 election fair and square, suggesting former President Donald Trump's false claims of widespread voter fraud still have momentum, a CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday found.

At the same time, however, most of those voters think Republican lawmakers should be focusing their energy on proposing "important legislation." In fact, supporting election fraud claims was found to be the least important issue in the survey, trailing economic policy and "culture and values," as well.

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The sentiment was also reflected in questions about Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). An overwhelming majority of respondents backed her ouster, but the most popular reason given was that Cheney wasn't on message with the rest of the party, rather than her thoughts on the 2020 election.

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Finally, there are more Republican voters who think the party should be expanding the base by emphasizing "policies and ideas" than there are those who believe lawmakers should prioritize "pushing for changes to state voting rules."

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.