Almost half of all American adults approve of the conviction of former President Donald Trump, an AP-NORC poll shows.
Trump became the first former US president to be convicted of felony charges after he was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to a hush money payment to adult actor Stormy Daniels who alleged she had an affair with Trump in 2006. The payment was made shortly before the 2016 election in the wake of the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women.
Forty-eight percent approve of the conviction, according to the poll, while 29 percent disapprove and 21 percent say they have no opinion.
Meanwhile, among Democrats, the number of those who approve shot up to 85 percent, with five percent disapproving.
Among Republicans, 61 percent disapprove of the conviction and 15 percent approve. Thirty-two percent of independents approve, 18 percent disapprove and 48 percent have no opinion, according to the poll.
Overall, 51 percent believe the conviction was motivated by politics, while 48 percent think it wasn’t. There’s a clear partisan divide, with 77 percent of Democrats saying it wasn’t motivated by politics but 83 percent of Republicans saying it was.
In April last year, 86 percent of Republicans said Trump’s indictment at the time was motivated by politics while 66 percent of Democrats said it was not.
Survey respondents were more likely to argue that the conviction benefitted the campaign of President Joe Biden than the Trump campaign. There’s not much agreement on whether the conviction of a former president is good for American democracy or the country in general. Forty percent said it benefits the Biden campaign while 28 percent said the same for Trump.
As much as 80 percent said they’ve read or heard something about the conviction, which includes 43 percent who said they’ve read or heard a lot. Only four percent said they’ve heard nothing at all. Both Democrats and Republicans are more likely to have heard a lot about the conviction compared to independents.
Biden’s and Trump’s favorability ratings are almost identical, both reach a 40 percent favorable rating while 57 percent have an unfavorable view of Biden and 56 percent have an unfavorable view of Trump.
Thirty-seven percent have a favorable view of independent candidate and conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy Jr. and 36 percent have an unfavorable view of him.
Among Democrats, 70 percent say they have a favorable view of Biden, while 73 percent of Republicans have a favorable view of Trump.
Vice President Kamala Harris has a favorable rating of 39 to 49 percent overall, while 71 percent of Democrats have a favorable view of her.
Biden is slightly more popular with the opposing party than Trump, with 12 percent of Republicans holding a favorable view of the president. Nine percent of Democrats have a favorable view of Trump.
More Republicans see Kennedy favorably — 46 percent have a positive view compared to 37 percent of Democrats. Kennedy is the only candidate who appears to have room to grow as far more people say they don’t know enough about him to have an opinion. Views of Biden and Trump appear mostly set and major movement seems unlikely.
