Majority of Iowa residents believe Trump conviction will not affect their support, poll shows

Former President Donald Trump praised the “hardy” Iowans for braving the weather Sunday, but a new poll finds they are also hardy in their support for him in his fight against court cases.

More than 6-in-10 Iowa Republican caucusgoers (61%) say any potential Trump conviction would not change their vote before the 2024 general election against President Joe Biden, according to the famed Des Moines Register Poll released Saturday night before Monday’s official caucus.

Also, there is 19% who say a Democrat-jurisdiction conviction of Trump would actually make them more inclined to vote for Trump.

Among the other notable findings related to the lawsuits against Trump:

• For those who pick Trump as their first choice:

  • 58% say a Trump conviction does not matter.
  • 35% say a Trump conviction makes them more resolute in their support.
  • Just 6% say they would be less likely to back him if convicted.

• For those who pick Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as their first choice:

  • 70% say it does not matter.
  • 26% say they would be less likely to support Trump.
  • 4% say it would make them more likely to back Trump.

• For those who pick former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley:

  • 56% say it does not matter.
  • 41% say they would be less likely to support Trump.
  • Just 1 respondent backing Haley would be more likely to back a convicted Trump.

Likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers have been “hardy” in their support for Trump, even if they might not be backing him, as 74% say Trump can beat Biden in the general election — an increase in almost 10 points since the August edition of the poll, according to the report.

“I feel like our justice system is being used as a weapon,” Erica Martin, 50, told the Register from Indianola, Iowa, where Trump delivered his final stump speech Sunday.

Also, Matthew Kunkle, 51, of Anamosa is not “too concerned” about Trump’s indictments.

“I don’t think if it was anybody but Donald Trump, he’d be facing any of those charges,” Kunkle told the Register, adding when asked if he would change his position if Trump was convicted: “No, not really.”

The weaponization of justice against him is all an election interference effort, evidenced by the scheduling of trials on the eve of big campaign dates on the primary calendar, Trump told his rally Sunday, which aired live on Newsmax and simulcast on the Newsmax2 online streaming platform.

“These are animals,” Trump said.

“We can’t have a day off. These are bad people. These are radical left lunatics that want to hurt me because they think it’s going to hurt me at the polls so that Biden can win an election.

“I don’t think the people are going to fall for it.”

There is “no rush” for the trials that are being brought only now after years of delay to impact the 2024 election, Trump continued.

“What a disgrace that a judge would not say, ‘yes, we can take a day off,’ ” he said. “There’s no rush. You know all of these indictments, they could have done them three years ago. They saved them all for the election — every one of them.

“I’ve got one during Iowa. I got one during New Hampshire, the day before New Hampshire.”

Also, Trump said, the one on the 2020 election challenge brought in Washington, D.C., before Judge Tanya Chutkan comes on the eve of Super Tuesday.

“She wants the trial to start the day before Super Tuesday and she says, ‘Oh, no, it has nothing to do with politics,’ ” he said. “Every one of them is the day before Iowa, the day before New Hampshire, the day before Super Tuesday.

“No, these are rigged indictments. This is a rigged Department of Justice, where we have radical left, bad people, lunatics. And we can’t let it happen.”

The Des Moines Register Poll was conducted Jan. 7-12 among 705 registered Iowa voters and the results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.