Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, most Americans believe that former President Donald Trump should face trial.
According to a new Ipsos poll, 57% of Americans believe the trial should occur before the Republican primary election and 62% people say the trial should occur before the 2024 presidential election.
Close to 42% of Republicans think Trump should be on trial before the 2024 Republican primaries in early 2024, while 40% oppose the idea. About 77% of Democrats think Trump should be on trial before the Republican primaries, while 47% of independents think the same.
In the event of a conviction on either of the charges related to retaining sensitive documents and falsifying business records, many Americans believe that imprisonment is the appropriate course of action for Trump, the poll revealed.
Americans hold divergent views on alternative options, with approximately one-fifth expressing that Trump should receive probation without imprisonment, face a financial penalty alone or face no punishment. However, the views differ by partisanship, with a plurality of Republicans thinking Trump should receive no punishment if convicted in either case — 39% in the case related to retaining sensitive documents and 38% in the case related to falsifying business records. Independents are divided but most likely to favor imprisonment in both cases. Most Democrats would favor imprisonment in both cases.
According to the poll, about 49% of Americans say they think Trump is guilty in the case related to retaining sensitive documents, while 48% say he is guilty of falsifying business records. About a third say they don’t believe Trump is guilty in either case, and a fifth say they don’t know.
However, most Democrats think Trump is guilty in both cases (81% in the sensitive documents case and 81% in the falsifying business records case), while few Republicans agree (25% and 24%, respectively).
The poll suggests that few Americans feel the charges make them more likely to support Trump for president, with one in 10 saying the charges make them more likely to support Trump in both cases, 12% of those polled saying they would support the former president in the case related to retaining sensitive documents, and 11% of those polled saying they would support him in the case related to falsifying business records.
A minority of Republicans say the charges in both cases make them more likely to support Trump — 24% in the sensitive documents case and 21% in the falsifying business records case.
However, Americans believe that the charges in the case related to retaining sensitive documents or the case related to falsifying business records have little effect on their support for Trump, with approximately equal proportions indicating that the charges make them less likely to support him (41% for both cases) or have no impact on their support (37% in the sensitive documents case and 38% in the falsifying business records case).
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