A new poll out Thursday undermines Democrats’ primary campaign plan to imprison their top political opponent, proving the approach is not a winning strategy with majorities of American voters, who refuse to buy the partisan show trials as serious proceedings.
According to the May survey conducted by Marist National Poll with NPR and PBS, 67 percent of registered voters said a guilty verdict in the New York “hush money trial” “makes no difference” in their vote this November. Just 17 percent said a guilty verdict would make them less likely to cast a ballot for the former president, and 15 percent said a jury conviction would make them more likely to vote for Trump.
If the Manhattan jury finds the Republican presidential candidate not guilty, however, the result would be devastating for Democrats, with 14 percent of voters reporting exoneration would leave them more likely to vote for Trump. Another 9 percent said a not guilty verdict would make them less likely to back the Republican, and 76 percent said Trump’s jury-proven innocence would have no bearing on their vote this fall.
The Marist survey of 1,261 adults was conducted over the phone and internet between May 21 to May 23 with a +/-3.7 percent margin of error. Pollsters interviewed 1,122 registered voters.
The poll was released on the second day of jury deliberations in the former president’s Manhattan trial in which Trump was charged with 34 felonies related to years-old alleged bookkeeping crimes prosecutors previously declined to prosecute. Manhattan
