Exclusive – Indictment Backfire: Poll Shows Majority of Americans Think Charges Will Either Help Trump or Have No Effect

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at the South Carolina Statehouse,
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Matthew Boyle
Washington, DC

New polling suggests that a majority of Americans believe a looming indictment of former President Donald Trump from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will backfire and either not hurt him or actually help him in his quest to retake the White House.

The results of the poll, conducted by Convention of States Action in conjunction with the Trafalgar Group, were obtained by Breitbart News exclusively ahead of their public release. These results appear to be the first polling numbers conducted fully after Trump announced last weekend that he expected to be charged imminently, and show the solid majorities of Americans believe the indictment will not hurt Trump at all.

A whopping 74 percent of Americans believe that an indictment of Trump either helps him or will have no effect on his presidential campaign — 37.5 percent said it will not affect him and 36.8 percent said it will help him. Only 25.7 percent of voters surveyed think it will hurt his presidential campaign.

“It’s obvious to the majority of Americans that former President Trump is being hounded by a politically motivated witch hunt designed to discredit him in order to render him a permanent pariah in American politics,” Mark Meckler, the president of Convention of States, said. “This tactic has never worked, and these early numbers already reveal it’s going to backfire. Voters either think his indictment and arrest will either have absolutely no impact on his 2024 bid, or that it will even boost his campaign.”

Broken down by political party of respondents shows a pretty consistent view across the board among Democrats, independents, and Republicans — though among Republicans those who think it will help Trump jumps up into a clear majority.

Among Democrats, more than 57 percent believe an indictment would either not affect or help Trump’s campaign — 42.5 percent think it will have no effect and 14.8 percent think it will help him — while just 42.7 percent say it will hurt him.

Among independents, more than 72 percent think an indictment will have no effect or help Trump — 38.9 percent think it will have no effect and 33.6 percent say it will help him — while just 27.5 percent say it will hurt Trump.

Among Republicans, perhaps the most interesting group in the immediate term because these voters will decide the primary, a solid majority of 56.2 percent believe that an indictment would actually help Trump in his bid to retake the White House. Another 32.5 percent of Republicans say an indictment would have no effect on Trump’s White House chances — meaning that in total nearly 89 percent of GOP voters believe that an indictment would either help Trump or have no effect on his campaign — whereas just 11.3 percent say an indictment would hurt Trump.

The poll was conducted from March 20 to March 22, and surveyed 1,081 likely general election voters. It has a margin of error of 2.9 percent.

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