A verdict either way in former President Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York is unlikely to affect voters' opinions of him, according to an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist national poll released Thursday.
A Manhattan jury was in its second day of deliberations Thursday on deciding the fate of the former president, who was indicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover a $130,000 payment made by disgraced former attorney Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
Trump has denied wrongdoing, claiming the case is a politically motivated witch hunt brought by a Democrat prosecutor in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and enabled by a biased judge in Juan Merchan.
The poll of 1,261 adults, including 1,122 registered voters, taken May 21-23 showed that if Trump is found guilty, 67% of registered voters said it would make no difference, with 17% saying they would be less likely to vote for him, and 15% would be more likely to vote for him.
The part of the poll that considered registered voters had a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
If Trump is found guilty, 65% of Democrats said it would make no difference, with 27% saying they would be less likely vote for him and 7% saying they would be more likely to vote for him. Among Republicans, it was 69% no difference, 10% less likely. and 20% more likely. Among independents, it was 74% no difference, 11% less likely, and 15% more likely.
If Trump is found not guilty, 76% of registered voters said it would not affect their vote, with 9% saying they would less likely vote for him, and 14% saying they would most likely vote for him.
Among Republicans, 68% said it would make no difference, with 26% more likely to vote for him and 3% less likely. Among Democrats, 75% said it would have no affect, 17% said they would less likely vote for him and 8% more likely. Among independents, 86% said it would make no difference, with 8% more likely and 6% less likely.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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