Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, most Americans believe that former President Donald Trump should face trial.
Close to 42% of Republicans think Trump should be on trial before the 2024 Republican primaries in early 2024, while 40% oppose the idea. About 77% of Democrats think Trump should be on trial before the Republican primaries, while 47% of independents think the same.
However, the views differ by partisanship, with a plurality of Republicans thinking Trump should receive no punishment if convicted in either case — 39% in the case related to retaining sensitive documents and 38% in the case related to falsifying business records. Independents are divided but most likely to favor imprisonment in both cases. Most Democrats would favor imprisonment in both cases.
According to the poll, about 49% of Americans say they think Trump is guilty in the case related to retaining sensitive documents, while 48% say he is guilty of falsifying business records. About a third say they don’t believe Trump is guilty in either case, and a fifth say they don’t know.
However, most Democrats think Trump is guilty in both cases (81% in the sensitive documents case and 81% in the falsifying business records case), while few Republicans agree (25% and 24%, respectively).
The poll suggests that few Americans feel the charges make them more likely to support Trump for president, with one in 10 saying the charges make them more likely to support Trump in both cases, 12% of those polled saying they would support the former president in the case related to retaining sensitive documents, and 11% of those polled saying they would support him in the case related to falsifying business records.
However, Americans believe that the charges in the case related to retaining sensitive documents or the case related to falsifying business records have little effect on their support for Trump, with approximately equal proportions indicating that the charges make them less likely to support him (41% for both cases) or have no impact on their support (37% in the sensitive documents case and 38% in the falsifying business records case).
Produced in association with Benzinga
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