The court of public opinion
President Joe Biden is also closing the gap between himself and Trump, the New York Times/Siena College survey showed
On the eve of jury selection in Donald Trump‘s hush money trial in New York, it appears the former president has already been convicted of crimes in the court of public opinion. A new poll shows that the majority of voters believe he has committed “serious federal crimes” — plural.
Fifty-four percent of registered voters — including 90 percent of Democrats, nearly half of independents and 17 percent of Republicans — think that Trump committed federal crimes, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll. Thirty-nine percent of registered voters said they did not believe he committed crimes, while nine percent said they weren’t sure or declined to answer.
Trump is heading to trial facing charges that he falsified business records in order to hide that he paid $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016 in exchange for her not revealing to the press that they had an affair. Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has admitted he arranged the payment and will likely be a star witness in the trial. Trump has denied the allegations.
Slightly less than half of likely voters (46 percent) said that Trump should be found guilty in the hush money case, while 36 percent said he should not be convicted. Another 18 percent said they didn’t know or did not want to answer.
The survey also showed President Joe Biden closing the gap between himself and Trump. Forty-six percent of voters backed Trump while 45 percent chose Biden, with eight percent unsure or declining to say.
