On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump was arrested in New York and charged with 34 felony counts for falsifying business records in relation to payments he allegedly made to conceal an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Polling conducted by YouGov in the hours after Trump's arrest finds that more Americans strongly or somewhat approve (56%) than strongly or somewhat disapprove (31%) of the charges filed against Trump. While Democrats overwhelmingly approve of the charges (84% approve; 9% disapprove), Republicans are more likely to disapprove — though by a smaller margin (32% approve; 61% disapprove).
Now that Trump has been charged, the next question is whether or not he will be convicted. On this, there is little consensus: 14% say a conviction is very likely, 25% say it is somewhat likely, 22% say it is not very likely, and 23% say it's not likely at all. Democrats (58%) are about twice as likely as Republicans (26%) to say it is very or somewhat likely that Trump will be convicted.
How will the charges against Trump affect his 2024 presidential run? Americans are about as likely to say the charges will make him a stronger candidate (32%) as they are to say they'll make him a weaker candidate (29%); 21% say the charges will make no difference to the strength of his candidacy. While Democrats are more likely to say the charges weaken Trump's candidacy (40%) than strengthen it (18%), Republicans are far less likely to say it weakens Trump's candidacy (17%) than strengthens it (58%).
Methodology: This survey was conducted online on April 4, 2023 among 1,824 U.S. adults. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, U.S. census region, and political party.
See results of this poll:
- Donald Trump was recently arrested and charged in New York with 34 felony counts for falsifying business records in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity during the 2016 election. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts. Do you approve or disapprove of the decision to charge Donald Trump with these alleged crimes?
- How likely or unlikely do you think it is that Donald Trump will be convicted of a crime in this case?
- Do you think that the charges against Donald Trump will make him a stronger or weaker candidate in 2024?
Image: Getty (Anna Moneymaker)
