Seen, Read, Heard
Midterms. Mar-a-Lago. Malaise. Here’s the News That Broke Through in 2022.
2022 brought a surprising midterm election performance by the Democratic Party given economic malaise driven by rising costs and the historic trend against the party in power. But the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the nationwide right to an abortion, and former President Donald Trump’s incessant place on the national stage proved just as salient with voters, helping to boost President Joe Biden’s party.
Morning Consult surveyed more than 200,000 registered voters throughout the year to determine the salience of more than 800 news events — in real time. Here’s a curated, chronological list of 142 news events that we found most noteworthy. Scroll down to see which events voters were most (and least) likely to report seeing, reading and hearing “a lot” about.
Filter your selection by one or more of the items below to view.
%
Democrats
%
All Voters
%
Republicans
January
Back to Top
40%
34%
29%
U.S. reports more than 1 million people test positive for COVID-19 after the holidays
01.03.22
Christmas COVID cases
39%
38%
37%
Snowstorm strands hundreds on I-95 in Virginia for over 24 hours
01.04.22
I-95 freezes over
18%
13%
9%
Labor Department announces U.S. economy adds a record number of jobs in 2021
01.07.22
2021's record jobs haul
41%
30%
20%
Judge sentences Travis and Greg McMichael to life in prison for Ahmaud Arbery murder
01.07.22
Arbery case sentencing
54%
50%
51%
Actor and comedian Bob Saget dies at 65
01.09.22
Bob Saget dies
16%
12%
9%
It’s revealed that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson attended a large party in 2020 amid COVID-19 lockdown
01.11.22
Partygate
33%
32%
33%
Supreme Court blocks Biden's COVID-19 vaccine-or-testing requirements for large workplaces
01.13.22
Vax mandates axed
30%
28%
30%
Man takes four people hostage in a Colleyville, Texas, synagogue during Sabbath service
01.15.22
Colleyville crisis
36%
28%
24%
U.S. Postal Service launches free COVID-19 testing website
01.18.22
Free COVID tests
30%
25%
25%
Republicans block voting rights legislation after Democrats fail to change Senate filibuster rules
01.19.22
Voting rights push fails
27%
32%
41%
Biden is caught on a hot mic using an expletive to refer to a Fox News reporter
01.24.22
Biden’s hot mic
39%
33%
32%
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announces retirement
01.27.22
Breyer retires
February
Back to Top
37%
35%
39%
‘The View' suspends Whoopi Goldberg after she said the Holocaust was not about race
02.01.22
Whoopi sidelined
13%
16%
20%
Treasury Department says national debt tops $30 trillion, a first in history
02.01.22
New debt record
23%
19%
19%
U.S. forces kill ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in Syria
02.02.22
ISIS leader killed
21%
21%
24%
Jeff Zucker resigns as CNN's president
02.02.22
Zucker out
30%
21%
14%
RNC says Jan. 6 rioters were "engaged in legitimate political discourse"
02.04.22
'Legitimate political discourse'
26%
23%
22%
Democratic governors in several states end requirements that people wear masks indoors
02.07.22
State mask mandates fade
36%
41%
46%
Labor Department reports 40-year high in consumer price increase during January
02.10.22
January inflation report
24%
16%
13%
CDC director teases imminent plans to loosen COVID-19 mask guidance
02.16.22
Federal mask mandate fades
9%
10%
13%
Trump launches his social media app, Truth Social
02.21.22
Truth Social
14%
11%
11%
The 2022 Winter Olympic games conclude in Beijing
02.22.22
Winter Olympics
67%
65%
63%
Russian forces launch invasion of Ukraine
02.24.22
War in Europe
29%
22%
17%
Biden nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace Breyer on Supreme Court
02.25.22
KBJ nominated
March
Back to Top
38%
29%
24%
Biden delivers his first State of the Union address
03.01.22
SOTU 2022
32%
23%
19%
Florida lawmakers pass measure limiting the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity to young students
03.08.22
'Don't say gay' passes
51%
45%
43%
Russian forces bomb children's hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine
03.09.22
Hospital bombing
39%
44%
50%
Labor Department reports another 40-year high in price increases in February
03.10.22
February inflation report
16%
15%
15%
Congress passes a $1.5 trillion government spending bill, including $14 billion in aid for Ukraine
03.10.22
Ukraine aid
24%
20%
20%
MLB owners, players agree to a new collective bargaining agreement
03.10.22
MLB ends strike
32%
25%
20%
Senate passes bill that would make daylight saving time permanent in 2023
03.15.22
Senate’s DST move
8%
6%
5%
Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) dies at 88
03.18.22
House dean dies
21%
17%
14%
WHO issues warning on omicron BA.2 subvariant of COVID-19
03.22.22
New COVID-19 strain
31%
25%
21%
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright dies at 84
03.23.22
Albright dies
36%
22%
12%
News emerges of Ginni Thomas' role in campaign to overturn Biden's victory
03.24.22
Ginni Thomas and Jan. 6
18%
12%
6%
Rep. Madison Cawthorn says he was invited to Washington orgies by political figures, some of whom used cocaine
03.24.22
Cawthorn’s cocaine talk
11%
16%
22%
News emerges that federal investigators are escalating probe of Hunter Biden's business dealings
03.30.22
Hunter Biden probe
31%
25%
21%
Biden announces plans to release 180 million barrels of oil from the strategic oil reserves
03.31.22
Tapping gas
April
Back to Top
50%
40%
34%
Senate confirms Jackson as first Black female Supreme Court justice
04.07.22
KBJ confirmed
42%
39%
36%
Gunman shoots 10 people and injures 19 others at a New York City subway train in Brooklyn
04.12.22
NYC subway shooting
36%
40%
45%
Labor Department reports 41-year high in price increases during March
04.12.22
March inflation report
9%
13%
17%
CBP says 210,000 migrants were caught at the U.S.-Mexico border in March, highest monthly total in 22 years
04.15.22
March border surge
32%
32%
35%
Florida lawmakers pass bill that would revoke Disney's special tax status
04.20.22
Florida targets Disney
13%
18%
26%
Warner Bros. Discovery shutters CNN's streaming service three weeks after its launch
04.21.22
CNN+ fails
26%
17%
12%
Audio from Jan. 6 fallout emerges of Rep. Kevin McCarthy saying he planned to ask Trump to resign
04.22.22
McCarthy tape leaked
May
Back to Top
44%
36%
31%
News emerges of a draft opinion showing the Supreme Court plans to strike down Roe v. Wade
05.02.22
Dobbs decision leaks
22%
21%
21%
Federal Reserve raises short-term interest rates by half a percentage point, largest hike since 2000
05.04.22
Fed hikes rates
24%
17%
12%
Biden appoints Karine Jean-Pierre as press secretary — the first Black and openly LGBTQ person to hold the role
05.05.22
A historic hiring
63%
60%
57%
The U.S. suffers a shortage of baby formula across the country
05.08.22
Baby formula shortage
35%
27%
21%
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) joins Republicans to block bill protecting abortion access
05.11.22
Abortion bill blocked
20%
13%
8%
News emerges that a federal grand jury is probing Trump's handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago
05.12.22
Mar-a-Lago case breaks
57%
49%
44%
Gunman kills 10 people in a mass shooting in a predominantly Black area of Buffalo, N.Y.
05.14.22
Buffalo shooting
20%
17%
17%
Chinese loyalist allegedly kills one and wounds five in a Taiwanese church shooting in Laguna Woods, Calif.
05.15.22
Taiwanese church shooting
13%
11%
9%
SpaceX employee accuses Elon Musk of exposing himself, propositioning her
05.19.22
Musk harassment allegations
78%
73%
69%
Gunman kills 19 children and 2 adults in shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas
05.24.22
Uvalde shooting
June
Back to Top
47%
45%
43%
Virginia jury finds Amber Heard guilty of defamation against actor Johnny Depp
06.01.22
Depp-Heard verdict
24%
22%
24%
Police arrest armed man near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's Maryland home following death threat
06.08.22
Kavanaugh death threat
39%
30%
23%
The House's select Jan. 6 committee holds its first hearing in prime time
06.09.22
Jan. 6 panel in prime time
23%
17%
14%
CDC ends requirement that travelers entering the U.S. must provide a negative COVID-19 test
06.10.22
COVID travel restrictions lifted
40%
46%
51%
Labor Department reports another 41-year high in price increases in May
06.10.22
May inflation report
8%
11%
16%
CBP reports 239,416 migrant apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border in May, a monthly record high
06.15.22
May border record
21%
18%
16%
FDA orders Juul to pull all of its vaping products off the market
06.23.22
Juul (briefly) banned
28%
20%
18%
Congress passes a bipartisan bill on school and gun safety in response to Uvalde shooting
06.23.22
Gun bill passes
27%
22%
21%
Supreme Court strikes New York law limiting concealed weapon permits
06.23.22
SCOTUS strikes gun law
75%
71%
70%
Supreme Court overturns 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed federal abortion rights
06.24.22
Roe falls
45%
38%
34%
Intense heat kills 53 migrants left by smugglers in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas
06.27.22
Migrant tragedy
45%
32%
23%
Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson shares details on Trump during Jan. 6 hearing
06.28.22
Cassidy Hutchinson testimony
28%
22%
17%
NATO invites Finland and Sweden to join the alliance
06.29.22
NATO invites
July
Back to Top
40%
30%
22%
The Indianapolis Star reports 10-year-old rape victim traveled to Indiana for abortion due to Ohio law
07.01.22
Ohio abortion story
57%
52%
49%
Gunman kills seven, injures dozens at July 4 parade in Chicago suburb
07.04.22
Highland Park shooting
34%
30%
27%
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he'll resign
07.07.22
BoJo bows out
33%
29%
27%
WNBA star Brittney Griner pleads guilty to carrying cannabis oil in Russian court
07.07.22
Griner’s guilty plea
35%
33%
33%
Assassin kills former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
07.08.22
Abe assassination
40%
43%
50%
Labor Department reports another 40-year inflation high during June
07.13.22
June inflation report
20%
16%
15%
Dr. Anthony Fauci says he will leave the government in the near future
07.18.22
Short-timer
45%
41%
42%
Biden tests positive for COVID-19
07.21.22
Biden gets COVID
15%
16%
19%
Man with a knife attacks GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin at gubernatorial campaign event in New York
07.21.22
Zeldin attacked
56%
52%
46%
Americans across the country face extremely hot temperatures
07.21.22
Heat wave
31%
25%
20%
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon found guilty of contempt of Congress
07.22.22
Bannon convicted
26%
21%
18%
Wildfire spreads in California near Yosemite National Park
07.22.22
Oak Fire
17%
14%
12%
House sends Biden a $280 billion bill to boost the U.S. semiconductor industry and research
07.29.22
CHIPS Act
34%
29%
25%
U.S. drone strike in Kabul kills al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri
07.30.22
Al-Zawahri killed
August
Back to Top
35%
26%
17%
Majority of Kansas voters protect abortion rights in referendum
08.02.22
Kansas' abortion surprise
20%
16%
16%
Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) and two of her staffers die in a car crash
08.03.22
Walorski tragedy
33%
23%
14%
DOJ charges four police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor
08.04.22
Louisville police charged
34%
26%
21%
White House declares mpox as a public health emergency
08.04.22
Mpox emergency
60%
58%
58%
FBI executes a search warrant on Trump's Florida resort in documents case
08.08.22
Mar-a-Lago raid
29%
27%
29%
Labor Department reports another nearly 40-year high in inflation during July
08.10.22
July inflation report
30%
21%
15%
Police kill a man who attempted to breach an Ohio FBI field office
08.11.22
FBI office attack
34%
30%
28%
AAA reports average price of a gallon of gas falls below $4, a low since March
08.11.22
Gas prices ease
21%
14%
10%
FDA finalizes rule to make hearing aids available without a prescription
08.16.22
OTC hearing aids
40%
36%
35%
Biden signs the Inflation Reduction Act, his signature legislative accomplishment, into law
08.16.22
Inflation Reduction Act
37%
35%
36%
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) loses her renomination bid to Trump endorsee Harriet Hageman
08.16.22
Cheney loses
47%
44%
42%
News emerges that investigators recovered more than 300 classified documents from Trump’s resort
08.22.22
Mar-a-Lago details
45%
43%
43%
Biden announces plan to cancel some student loan debt
08.24.22
Student loan relief
September
Back to Top
76%
71%
70%
Queen Elizabeth II dies at 96, ending her 70-year reign
09.08.22
The queen dies
58%
52%
46%
News emerges that Trump had sensitive nuclear weapons documents at Mar-a-Lago
09.08.22
Mar-a-Lago nuclear details
29%
30%
32%
Labor Department reports inflation was at another nearly 40-year high in August
09.13.22
August inflation report
42%
39%
40%
Republican governors send migrants to liberal cities and states
09.14.22
Migrant flights
22%
15%
10%
Tennis champion and superstar Roger Federer announces his retirement
09.15.22
Federer retires
32%
21%
14%
White House announces agreement to prevent a U.S. railroad workers strike
09.15.22
Rail strike averted
19%
21%
25%
Biden says the COVID-19 pandemic is over during “60 Minutes” interview on CBS
09.18.22
'The pandemic is over'
36%
32%
32%
Hurricane Fiona hits Puerto Rico
09.18.22
Hurricane Fiona
34%
28%
25%
New York Attorney General Tish James files lawsuit against the Trumps for business fraud
09.21.22
N.Y. v. Trumps
30%
35%
41%
S&P 500 falls to new low amid global sell-off
09.26.22
Stocks fall
17%
13%
8%
Pop star Lizzo plays James Madison's crystal flute during a D.C. concert
09.27.22
Crystal flute
70%
70%
70%
Hurricane Ian hits Florida
09.28.22
Hurricane Ian
42%
48%
55%
AAA reports increase in average price of a gallon of gas
09.30.22
Gas prices rise
October
Back to Top
23%
22%
24%
Pyongyang launches nuclear-capable missile over Japan for the first time since 2017
10.04.22
N.K. missile launch
23%
23%
26%
Oil cartel says it will cut oil production in November
10.05.22
OPEC+ cuts production
35%
29%
23%
Biden pardons prior federal simple marijuana possession offenses
10.06.22
Pot pardons
28%
23%
21%
Biden says the risk of Armageddon is at its highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
10.06.22
'Armageddon'
49%
38%
25%
Kanye West makes a series of antisemitic or racist statements or actions
10.09.22
Ye's bigotry
13%
10%
9%
Maryland prosecutors drop murder charges against Adnan Syed, subject of 2014 “Serial” podcast
10.11.22
Adnan Syed cleared
20%
19%
18%
CDC approves COVID-19 booster shots for children ages 5-11
10.12.22
Kids’ COVID boosters
34%
38%
43%
Labor Department reports another 40-year high in inflation for September
10.13.22
September inflation report
24%
25%
30%
Biden again taps Strategic Petroleum Reserve amid high gas prices
10.18.22
Tapping more gas
14%
10%
8%
N.Y. jury finds actor Kevin Spacey was not liable for damages in lawsuit over alleged sexual abuse in 1986
10.20.22
Spacey verdict
39%
34%
29%
British Prime Minister Liz Truss announces plans to resign
10.20.22
Truss bows out
46%
37%
30%
House's Jan. 6 panel subpoenas Trump
10.21.22
Trump subpoena
17%
13%
10%
AAA reports drop in average price of a gallon of gas
10.24.22
Gas prices drop
23%
18%
14%
NBA player Kyrie Irving promoting an antisemitic film on his Twitter account
10.27.22
Irving's antisemitism
41%
38%
33%
Man kidnaps and attacks House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, during a home break-in
10.28.22
Pelosi attack
November
Back to Top
55%
57%
59%
Midterm elections reach final stretch
11.01.22
Campaign season
23%
20%
20%
Houston Astros beat Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series
11.05.22
Astros win
13%
15%
17%
Sam Bankman-Fried resigns as CEO of FTX as the cryptocurrency exchange files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
11.11.22
FTX spirals
38%
31%
26%
Democrats hold on to their Senate majority
11.12.22
Democrats keep Senate
33%
32%
37%
Trump announces his 2024 presidential campaign at Mar-a-Lago
11.15.22
Trump 2024
29%
32%
40%
Republicans take a narrow House majority
11.16.22
GOP flips House
36%
33%
35%
Pelosi says she will step down as House Democratic leader
11.17.22
Pelosi steps down
23%
20%
17%
Attorney General Merrick Garland appoints special counsel to handle Trump cases
11.18.22
Trump special counsel
31%
26%
23%
Qatar hosts 2022 World Cup soccer tournament
11.20.22
World Cup
25%
20%
16%
Biden extends pause on federal student loan payments to allow the Supreme Court to consider legal challenges
11.22.22
Student loan pause extended
37%
28%
20%
Trump attends a dinner with white supremacist Nick Fuentes and rapper Kanye West
11.22.22
Trump's unsavory dinner
December
Back to Top
44%
31%
18%
Kanye West expresses appreciation for Adolf Hitler during “Infowars” interview with Alex Jones
12.01.22
Ye's 'Hitler' comments
28%
21%
18%
Congress passes bill to end a labor dispute between workers and freight rail carriers
12.01.22
Rail strike averted
23%
20%
17%
China relaxes “zero-COVID” protocols after a mass uprising
12.01.22
Zero-COVID backlash
32%
30%
32%
Actress Kirstie Alley dies at age 71
12.05.22
Kirstie Alley dead
37%
26%
19%
A New York jury finds the Trump Organization guilty of multiple criminal charges related to tax fraud
12.06.22
Trump Org guilty
32%
24%
17%
Congress sends Biden measure recognizing same-sex and interracial marriages nationwide
12.08.22
Marriage equality
54%
52%
50%
U.S. secures WNBA star Brittney Griner’s release from Russian prison in prisoner swap
12.08.22
Griner released
22%
18%
16%
Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema says she’s changing her political affiliation from Democratic to independent
12.09.22
Sinema’s Independence Day