Nearly half of Americans described recent federal charges against former President Donald Trump as politically motivated. A recent ABC/Ipsos poll also found continued support for the president among Republicans.
While many of those polled believed that the charges against the president were serious, a similar portion of the population sees the charges as motivated by politics.
A full 47% of Americans believe that the federal government’s case against Trump is politically motivated. In addition, the poll found that two-thirds of Republicans polled do not agree with the indictment.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 81% of Republicans believe that the recent charges are politically motivated.
The former president also holds a sizeable lead against his next closest 2024 GOP rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis according to the poll.
Yet another poll by CBS News/YouGov found the 45th president with more than 60% support in the Republican primary, leading DeSantis by nearly 40%. Among likely Republican primary voters, 61% said that their view of Trump did not change due to the indictment.
Among Republican voters, 80% said that Trump should be able to serve as president even if convicted of felony charges.
When asked which candidates they would consider voting for in the primary, 75% said Trump, while 51% said DeSantis. No other candidate received the consideration of a majority of Republican respondents.
Furthermore, the former president believes that the indictment against him is at least partially motivated by President Joe Biden’s low approval rating.
President Trump tells @AmericanoMedia that the indictment has backfired on Biden: "My poll numbers are going way, way up!" pic.twitter.com/EPYXCzTkVQ
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) June 13, 2023
“They’re using this because they’re losing in the polls. They’re losing very big in the polls,” Trump said Monday. He cited a number of polls in which he is besting his potential 2024 rival. The former president said that the indictment was being used “because they can’t win the election fairly and squarely.”
While the indictment may have further effects on the primary process and general election, polling evidence so far seems to indicate that the American public’s view of the former president will likely not change significantly due to the accusations against him.
