Half of the Americans view the charges as serious against former US President Donald Trump, who was indicted by a Manchester Grand Jury related to payment of hush money to an adult film actress.
A survey by IPSOS said that nearly as many of the people surveyed feel that the former president should be charged with a crime.
In the survey, the authors say that around half felt that Trump should be charged for a crime for his actions related to the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and for his efforts to change the 2020 election results. The survey also noted that only one in three say he should not be charged and one in five remain undecided on these questions.
SERIOUS ISSUE
The IPSOS survey stated that most Americans viewed the hush money-related charges against Trump as serious,. However, they also came across deep partisan divisions on the outlook toward the indictment. In the survey, 50 per cent said that the indictment, which came one day before this poll was fielded, is serious, including slim majorities of women, Americans under age 30, Black and Hispanic Americans, and those with a college degree.
Among political parties, 87 per cent of Democrats view these charges as serious. Meanwhile, only 29 per cent of Republicans think so. Independents are evenly split, 43% serious – 41% not serious. These divides cut across all questions, from severity of the charges to whether or not Trump should be charged with a crime for different issues.
THE VARIOUS INVESTIGATIONS
On the four different investigations around Trump (including the current one), most of the people said that he should be charged with a crime than not.With respect to huh money, 45 believe Trump should be charged with a crime. Meanwhile, 32 per cent say he should not. The same number say he should be charged with a crime for the way he handled classified documents after he left office as president.Similarly, 49per cent say he should be charged for his actions related to January 6th, and a bare majority – 51% – feel the same about his efforts to change the results of the 2020 presidential election.In light of the indictment, 43% are looking for him to suspend his presidential campaign, while 35% say he should not.In all cases, political independents lean slightly toward thinking he should be charged, though there is not majority support for charges among this group.
POLITICALLY MOTIVATED
In the survey, IPSOS fund that nearly half – feel the charges against Trump are politically motivated. While this looks similar overall to how many think he should be charged, it is driven by an outcry from his base, whereas other attitudes are driven by Democrats.Overall, 47% say the charges against Trump in this case are politically motivated, while 32% disagree.
With respect to charging of the case, eight in ten Republicans say the charges are politically motivated. Sixteen percent of Democrats agree.When asked if Trump should be charged in this current case, nearly nine in ten Democrats say he should be, and just 16% of Republicans agree.
UNDECIDED
The survey also found that many Americans remain undecided on whether Trump should be charged with a crime. Twenty-three percent are unsure if Trump should be charged in this current case. Indecision is higher among younger Americans, independents, and women.Looking at other cases, the number of undecided Americans ranges from 16% to 21%.
