Ahead of the former president’s trial starting next week in New York, a Reuters/Ipsos poll reveals that criminal charges against Donald Trump for allegedly Hiding secret payments to a porn star are serious in the eyes of the majority of American voters.
About 64% of registered voters in the five-day poll, which ended Monday, described the allegations as at least “somewhat serious,” compared with 34% who said they were less than serious important.
Others were unsure or did not respond. The trial, scheduled to begin next Monday, is the first of four criminal charges against Trump, the Republican challenger to Democratic President Joe Biden in the November election.
Legal experts reported that the remaining three cases – involving allegations of election fraud or mishandling of classified documents – were significantly more serious than the payment allegations of hush money.
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But the Reuters/Ipsos poll shows any criminal conviction could have serious consequences for Trump, who is in a tight race with Biden. Trump is the first sitting or former US president to face criminal charges.
About four in ten Republican respondents view the hush money allegations as serious, as do two-thirds of independents. New York prosecutors accuse Trump of concealing a $130,000 payment made by former lawyer Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, in exchange for her silence about the scandal.
2016 presidential election about a sexual relationship she said she had with Trump a decade earlier. Trump denied the meeting took place and pleaded not guilty. Nearly one-third of Republicans — and nearly two-thirds of independents — in the poll said it was credible that Trump falsified business records and committed fraud.
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Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records; he was not specifically charged with racketeering, which is a different crime under New York law.
Voters appear to view the charges against Trump in other ongoing trials as more serious. About 74% of registered voters surveyed said allegations of voter fraud were serious. Trump tries to delay all four trials.
However, a New York state appellate judge denied his request to delay the secret trial. About 60% of registered voters in the poll said they agree with the statement that Trump’s criminal trials should take place before the November 5 election.
Respondents were ambivalent about this assertion, as only 27% of registered voters agreed with Trump’s argument that presidents should be immune unless they have been impeached by Congress and impeached.
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Many Republicans shared this view, with about four-fifths of respondents agreeing that the prosecutions were “excessive and politically motivated.” At the same time, about a quarter of Republican respondents to the poll said they would not vote for Trump if he were convicted of a felony crime by a jury.
About three-quarters of registered voters in the Reuters/Ipsos poll said having a president in the office with such heavy legal obligations would be “risky.” The Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 1,021 U.S. adults, including 833 registered voters, in a nationwide survey conducted online from April 4-8 Voters.
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