Polls: Indictment Sways GOP Favor Trump’s Way

Recent polling conducted before former President Donald Trump’s indictment Thursday indicates that Republicans are rallying behind him again for 2024.

In an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist College survey conducted last week, 80% of Republicans said the former president was facing a “witch hunt” from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, prosecutors in Georgia, and Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Only 10% of Republican respondents said Trump did anything illegal.

Nearly half, 45%, held that Trump did nothing wrong. Meanwhile, 43% of Republicans described his behavior as “unethical, but not illegal.”

A Quinnipiac University poll published one day before his indictment showed similar results among Republican voters.

Just 23% of Republicans in that survey said potential criminal charges against Trump should disqualify him from running in 2024. When asked specifically about Bragg’s probe into the hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, 52% said Bragg’s case was “not serious at all.”

Morning Consult’s flash poll conducted after the news broke Friday showed that Republican support after the indictment was still low, with only 19% saying that it was justified.

“The Republican base — especially downscale voters and those who describe themselves as very conservative — rallies around Trump after scandals, even as those controversies take a toll on Trump’s overall image,” Politico reported Friday.

Trump’s favorable poll numbers among Republicans come as his presidential campaign announced Friday that it raised over $4 million in just 24 hours following his indictment by a New York grand jury.

“Most notably, over 25% of donations came from first-time donors to the Trump Campaign, further solidifying President Trump’s status as the clear frontrunner in the Republican primary,” the campaign wrote.