--- title: Russian Election Hacking Concerns Majority of Americans description: More than half of Americans are concerned by reports of Russian hacking during the 2016 election canonical: https://time.com/4605845/donald-trump-russia-election-hack-poll/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-18T19:00:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:21:34.419Z article:section: Politics og:title: More Than Half of Americans Are Concerned About Russian Election Interference og:description: But there's a big partisan divide on the issue following the election of Donald Trump og:url: https://time.com/4605845/donald-trump-russia-election-hack-poll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta50de2112cac17c8/6988b358bc6cfc3da93df9b7/donald-trump-russia-hacking.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President-Elect Donald Trump Holds Thank You Rally In Mobile, Alabama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: More Than Half of Americans Are Concerned About Russian Election Interference twitter:description: But there's a big partisan divide on the issue following the election of Donald Trump twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta50de2112cac17c8/6988b358bc6cfc3da93df9b7/donald-trump-russia-hacking.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # More Than Half of Americans Are Concerned About Russian Election Interference > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 18, 2016 7:00 PM UTC  President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a thank you rally in Ladd-Peebles Stadium on December 17, 2016 in Mobile, Alabama. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a thank you rally in Ladd-Peebles Stadium on December 17, 2016 in Mobile, Alabama. Mark Wallheiser—;Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 18, 2016 7:00 PM UTC More than half of Americans are concerned by reports of Russian hacking during the 2016 election, according to a new national [NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/poll-55-percent-concerned-about-russia-s-interference-election-n697391). Forty-three percent of poll respondents said they are bothered a “great deal” by Russian interference in the election, while 12% more said they were bothered “quite a bit.” The CIA, the FBI and the Director of National Intelligence agreed on findings that [Russians interfered in the U.S. presidential election](http://time.com/4605818/john-mccain-donald-trump-russia/?xid=homepage) as part of an effort to assist [President-elect Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump-choice/?xid=homepage&pcd=hp-magmod), the Washington _Post_ [reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-blames-putins-personal-grudge-against-her-for-election-interference/2016/12/16/12f36250-c3be-11e6-8422-eac61c0ef74d%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.24f6e8e030f5) on Friday, shortly before President Obama publicly warned Russia against hacking. The poll found a significant partisan divide on the issue of Russian hacking; 86% of Democrats said they were bothered by the interference, compared to just 29% of Republicans who said the same. According to the poll, 49% of independents said they were bothered. Divisions remained regarding Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin—61% of Democrats say the two are too friendly, while just 8% of Republicans said they believed the same. Of the respondents, 23% said they weren’t bothered at all by the news, while 8% said they were bothered “very little” and 10% the news bothered them “just some.” Although 55% of respondents said they were concerned about Russian hacking, only 37% said the actions helped Trump win the election, while 57% said it didn’t make a difference. 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