Poll: Voters Say Debate Moderators, Like Reporters, Are in the Tank for Hillary Clinton

LAS VEGAS, NV – OCTOBER 13: Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (L) and Hillary Clinton take part in a presidential debate sponsored by CNN and Facebook at Wynn Las Vegas on October 13, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Five Democratic presidential candidates are participating in the party’s first presidential debate. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Voters say debate moderators, like most mainstream media reporters, are will try to help Hillary Clinton top Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential debates.

A new Rasmussen Reports survey finds that a plurality (46%) of likely voters think most moderators will try to help Mrs. Clinton in the upcoming debates. Only six percent (6%) think they will try to help Mr. Trump, while just 32% say most of the moderators will try to be unbiased and 15% were undecided.

Not surprisingly, the results are driven by partisans and each candidate’s supporters’ views. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of likely voters voters who back Mr. Trump think the moderators will try to help Mrs. Clinton, while most of her supporters (56%) say the moderators will be unbiased. Still, even among Mrs. Clinton’s supporters, one-fifth (20%) say the moderators will try to help their candidate, while just 12% think they will try to help Mr. Trump.

That’s significant when considering Democrats by a 47% to 30% margin in 2012 felt they were not biased.

By comparison, only two percent (2%) of Mr. Trump’s supporters agree.

Another new Rasmussen Reports survey finds that only 20% of likely voters think that most reporters try to offer unbiased coverage during the presidential election. On the other hand, the vast majority, in fact a supermajority (69%), say reporters try to help the candidate they want to win. Only eleven percent (11%) are not sure.