A 61 percent majority of Republicans want former President Donald Trump to run for re-election in 2024 — even if he is charged with a crime.
Just ten percent of Republican voters believe that the former president committed a crime and should be charged, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National poll.
The pollsters report, "A plurality of Americans (44%) say President Trump did something illegal when he took government documents after leaving the Presidency. An additional 17% think the former president did something unethical but not illegal. One in four Republicans say Trump did either something illegal (5%) or unethical (20%). 29% of Americans, including 63% of Republicans, think Trump did nothing wrong."
Across the political spectrum, "47% of Americans say Trump did something illegal or unethical and should be charged with a crime. 14% think he did something wrong but should not face criminal charges," the poll's findings continued.
The survey found that 15 percent of Republicans and 18 percent of independents believe Trump did something wrong, but should not be charged with a crime. Just ten percent of Republicans and 46 percent of independents believe there was wrongdoing and that he should be charged.
While there is large majority support among Republicans for Trump running in 2024, when you look at the numbers across party lines, the majority do not want him to run — including nine out of ten Democrats.
Marist found that "61% of Americans – including 90% of Democrats, 26% of Republicans, and 67% of independents – do not want Trump to run for president in 2024. This jumps to 65% of Americans if he is charged with a crime. 27% want Trump to run for president even if he is charged with a crime, including 61% of Republicans."
"Former President Trump is losing the battle with public opinion over whether he did anything wrong by taking government documents to Mar-a-Lago," said Lee M. Miringoff, Director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, in a statement. "But his core support remains intact regardless of the results of the investigation."
Trump has not yet announced a bid for the presidency but has been consistently hinting that he does intend to challenge President Joe Biden.
The poll was conducted from August 29 through September 1, 2022.
