MSNBC host Joe Scarborough thinks the effects of the 6 January Select Committe Hearings are "starting to sink in" with MAGA conservatives and other Republicans.
On Monday’s episode of his show, Morning Joe, Mr Scarborough cited data from an ABC News and Ipsos poll that found 58 per cent of Americans believe former President Donald Trump should face criminal charges for his role in the Capitol riot.
The poll found that 19 per cent of Republicans polled held that sentiment.
“Let’s stop for a second and think about this,” Mr Scarborough said. “In this world of small margins that we play by every election, whether it was 2016 or 2020, let’s just stop for a second and go, oh, wow. Only 19% of Republicans think he should be charged with a crime and go to jail. That’s one in five Republicans.”
Mr Scarborough, who formerly ran and was elected four times as a Republican member of the House, explained why that number may be significant for Mr Trump if he chooses to run again in 2024.
“Now, I must say, I ran four times and won easily four times, but if one in five of my base thought I should have been charged with a crime and gone to jail, I mean, I would have gone and practiced law a lot earlier," he said. “Again, this is starting to resonate. This is starting to sink in.”
The poll also found that 60 per cent of respondents believed the committee's investigation has been "fair and impartial," with 46 per cent of respondents saying that Mr Trump bears a "great" responsibility for the riot. Another 12 per cent said he bears a "good" amount of responsibility, and 17 per cent say he just bears "some" responsibility.
Congressman Adam Schiff, a member of the panel, said the committee would show evidence of Mr Trump's involvement in a scheme to submit a slate of fake electors in the 2020 presidential election.
“Yes, we’ll show evidence of the President’s involvement in this scheme. We’ll also again show evidence about what his own lawyers came to think about this scheme,” he told Dana Bash on CNN's "State of the Union." “And we’ll show courageous state officials who stood up and said they wouldn’t go along with this plan to either call legislators back into session or decertify the results for Joe Biden.”
