A majority of voters think former President Donald Trump should still face trial in his criminal cases even if he wins the election in less than two weeks.
Though legal observers say there’s little to no chance that a Trump Justice Department would allow the two federal cases against him to continue, a majority of voters said in a recent USA Today/Suffolk University poll that it would be “wrong” for the federal charges to be dropped.
Almost 58 percent of likely voters said in the survey that it would be “wrong” for Trump to order the department to drop the charges, while 30 percent said it would be the “right” thing to do, with about one in 10 remaining undecided.
Similarly, 56 percent said that state and federal prosecutors should continue working on their cases against the former president if he loses the election, with 38 percent opposing the idea. Almost five percent were undecided.
The poll of 1,000 likely voters has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
Trump is set to be sentenced on November 26 following his New York felony conviction that he falsified business records to hide a hush money payment to adult actor Stormy Daniels. Trials against him for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election are pending in a federal court in Washington, DC, and in a Georgia state court. In Florida federal court, a Trump-appointed judge has dismissed charges that he mishandled classified documents, a ruling that has been appealed by prosecutors.
Last month, the Pew Research Center found that 46 percent of voters said that Trump broke the law when trying to overturn the 2020 election, while a further 14 percent said he didn’t cross into illegal territory but still did something wrong.
ABC News revealed in a May poll that 52 percent of survey respondents thought the New York hush money charges against Trump were significant and that a conviction may change how they vote – the former president was convicted later that same month.
Trump’s attorneys have argued that all trials should be postponed until after he finishes his second term if he wins the election. The former president has said that he may attempt to pardon himself as well as fire Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing the federal probes, if elected.
Voters’ beliefs appeared to be split along party lines.
Retired Pennsylvania nurse and Trump supporter Marcy Michaels told USA Today, “I think the aggressiveness of pursuing these charges was directly related to how well he was doing with the polling to become the nominee. Sadly, I think it’s politically motivated.”
Nebraska engineer Steve Morrissey, a Harris supporter, told the outlet that “For him to dismiss the charges against himself or put somebody in who will dismiss it is almost more of a crime than what he actually did.”
“No one should be above the law. It should move forward like it does for anybody else,” he added.
Texas oilfield worker Cullie Gentry, who supports Trump, said, “I think absolutely that he should get rid of those charges. It’s dangerous. We’re living like a Third World country, where you prosecute your political opponent.”
