USA Today Poll: Jan. 6th hearings have had little-to-no effect on public’s opinion on Capital riot

Despite the extensive news coverage of the congressional hearings into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, an exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds that they have altered few opinions.

Accoridng to the poll, only 6% of respondents claim that they now believe that then-President Donald Trump was more responsible for the attack than they had previously considered.

In contrast, 61% say they still believe Trump bears little to no responsibility, and 33% say he bears some responsibility.

The hearings appeared to have a similarly small impact on perceptions of Capitol Police’s response to the attack. Only 8% of respondents said they now believe that the police response was more adequate than they had previously considered, while 61% say it was less adequate and 30% say it was about the same.

The findings suggest that the hearings, which included testimony from law enforcement officials about the events of Jan. 6 and their response to them, have done little to change Americans’ minds about Trump’s role in the attack or the police response.

The poll was conducted Feb. 18-22 and has a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points.

These results come as no surprise given the strong partisan divide that has characterized reactions to the Jan. 6 attack since it occurred. But they are a reminder that, even with extensive media coverage, it can be difficult to change people’s minds about politically-charged events.