According to a recent poll by Quinnipiac University, 57% of Americans believe that any criminal charges brought against former President Trump should disqualify him from running for president again, while 38% do not think that charges should prevent him from running. The survey showed that 75% of Republicans believe Trump should be allowed to run for president again even if criminal charges are filed against him, while 88% of Democrats and 55% of independent voters believe that he should be disqualified.
The poll was conducted amid a grand jury hearing evidence in a case involving hush money payments made by Trump’s former attorney to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election. The grand jury is not scheduled to meet until late April. Despite this, 55% of respondents believe that the allegations against Trump are either very or somewhat serious, while 42% do not believe that they are serious at all.
More than 60% of respondents think that the case against Trump is “mainly motivated by politics,” with only 32% believing that it is mainly motivated by the law. Trump faces multiple other investigations, including a federal investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump announced his third White House bid at his Mar-a-Lago estate in November, despite the ongoing investigations. He has made comments warning of potential “death and destruction” should he be charged in the Manhattan district attorney’s case. These comments have been met with pushback from lawmakers.
The poll surveyed 1,788 U.S. adults between March 23 and March 27 and had an overall margin of error of 2.3 percentage points.
