About half of US Republicans could spurn Trump if he is convicted, poll shows
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Donald Trump is due to appear in court on Thursday to face federal charges he led a conspiracy to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON - About half of Republicans would not vote for Donald Trump if he was convicted of a felony, a sign of the severe risks his legal problems pose
The former president and current front runner in the Republican nomination contest
He has separately been charged in two other criminal cases: one in a New York state court which revolves around hush money payments to an adult film actress; retaining sensitive and classified national security documents
The two-day Reuters/Ipsos poll asked respondents if they would vote for Trump for president in 2024 if he was “convicted of a felony crime by a jury”.
Among Republicans, 45 per cent said they would not vote for him, more than the 35 per cent who said they would. The rest said they did not know.
Asked if they would vote for Trump if he was “currently serving time in prison”, 52 per cent of Republicans said they would not, compared with 28 per cent who said they would.
Trump has proclaimed his innocence in all the cases against him and accuses prosecutors of conducting a “witch hunt” that aims to derail his campaign.
Two of the cases were brought by the US Department of Justice, which ultimately answers to Trump’s nemesis, Democratic President Joe Biden, but which has taken steps to insulate investigations from political influence. The New York state case is led by a prosecutor who is an elected Democrat.
The new poll showed that Republicans broadly sympathise with Trump’s accusations of political persecution. Seventy-five per cent of Republican respondents agreed with a statement that the charges against Trump were “politically motivated”. Twenty per cent disagreed and the rest said they did not know.
About two-thirds of Republicans – 66 per cent – described as “not believable” the accusation in Trump’s latest indictment that he solicited election fraud. Twenty-nine per cent said it was believable and the rest were not sure.
Republican respondents also described themselves as more likely to withhold their votes on Election Day from an unnamed convicted felon than one named Donald Trump. When asked how a felony conviction would affect their voting in an abstract sense, 71 per cent of Republicans said they would not vote for the convict, compared with 52 per cent if it were Trump.
Trump has capitalised on his indictments since the first charges were filed in April, increasing his lead in the Republican nomination contest
The new poll showed Trump’s dominance only growing in that contest, holding onto the 47 per cent of Republican support he also had in a July poll, while Mr DeSantis’ share slipped six percentage points to 13 per cent.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted nationwide, gathering responses online from 1,005 US adults. It had a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of about four percentage points. REUTERS
