According to a new poll, 80 percent of likely Republican primary voters think former President Donald Trump should still be able to return to the Oval Office even if he is convicted in a federal indictment over handling classified documents.
On Sunday (June 11), a CBS News-YouGov poll found only 20 percent of likely GOP primary voters think Trump should not be able to run for President again if convicted of his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Trump, who is running for the White House in 2024 after losing a 2020 bid to President Joe Biden, was indicted last week on 37 counts related to the investigation into Trump’s handling of Classified documents, including allegations of withholding the documents after completing his tenure in the White House.
Only 12 percent of likely GOP voters said they are more concerned that the documents threaten national security, while 76 percent said they are more concerned that Trump’s indictment is politically motivated.
Another 12 percent said they were worried about both.
Sixty-one percent of those polled also said the indictment hadn’t changed their feelings about the former President.
Seven percent said the accusation could make their views “for the worse,” while double, 14 percent, said that the indictment changed their views “for the better.”
Eighteen percent of poll participants said their views changing would “depend.”
Nearly two-thirds of likely GOP primary voters said they would prefer that Trump not talk about various investigations against him during the 2024 campaign, compared to 39 percent who said they would prefer that he did.
Trump came in first in the hypothetical Republican primary, with 61 percent of those polled saying they would vote for him.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came in a distant second with 23 percent support.
Thursday’s federal indictment makes Trump the first former U.S. President to face federal criminal charges.
Earlier this year, Trump also became the first former President to face criminal charges when Manhattan prosecutors indicted him on 34 felony counts of falsifying corporate records.
