The CNN poll conducted by SSRS found that only 13% of Americans nationwide believe that Donald Trump is being treated the same as other criminal defendants in the first criminal prosecution of a former American president. The country is divided, with 34% feeling he is being treated more harshly and 34% feeling he is being treated more leniently. Additionally, only 44% of Americans have confidence that the jury selected for the case will reach a fair verdict, while 56% are skeptical. A majority see Trump’s behavior during the trial as inappropriate (42%) rather than appropriate (25%).
The poll also showed a rising share of Americans viewing the charges in the ongoing trial, related to falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, as irrelevant to Trump’s fitness for the presidency even if true. About 45% of respondents now see the charges as irrelevant, compared to 39% last summer. Despite the charges Trump is facing in four separate cases, about three-quarters of voters currently backing him against Joe Biden in the 2024 election say they will continue to support him even if he is convicted of a crime, while 24% say a conviction might cause them to reconsider their support.
The potential impact of a conviction on Trump’s supporters is uncertain, but those who say they might reconsider tend to be younger, people of color, and more likely to have voted for Biden in 2020. They are also more likely to be political independents and ideologically moderate. Despite these characteristics, the Trump backers who might reconsider their support if he is convicted do not necessarily indicate they would switch their support to Biden. In a separate question, 81% of these Trump supporters said they would not consider supporting Biden even if they reconsider their support for Trump.
A majority of Americans continue to believe that the charges in each of the four cases against Trump raise doubts about his fitness for the presidency if true. Pluralities feel that charges related to his role in the Capitol attack and efforts to overturn the 2020 election should disqualify him from the presidency entirely. However, views on the relevance of these cases to Trump’s fitness for office may be shifting, with an increasing number saying the hush money charges are not relevant to his suitability for the presidency.
In terms of the ongoing trial, most Americans feel that Trump has acted unethically, but fewer believe his actions were criminal. About a third say his actions related to falsifying business records for the hush money payments were illegal, while 33% believe they were unethical but not illegal. Just 12% believe he did nothing wrong in the case, while 21% are unsure. These views are similar to those expressed shortly after the charges were announced last spring.
