Nearly half of Americans believe that the prosecution of former President Donald Trump by Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was politically motivated, as per a Sunday poll from ABC News/Ipsos.
The survey revealed that 47% of Americans perceive the charges against Trump as politically driven, whereas 38% disagree. Meanwhile, 50% of Americans agree with Trump’s guilty verdict in the Bragg case, 27% dispute the verdict’s correctness, and 23% are uncertain about whether the verdict was justified.
Despite the majority of Americans agreeing with Trump’s guilty verdict, his favorability remains unchanged. Approximately 31% of Americans have a favorable view of Trump, a slight increase from 29% in March 2024. Similarly, Biden’s favorability has remained steady, with 32% of Americans expressing a favorable view of him, compared to 33% in March.
Americans’ opinions on the Trump verdict are more polarized among those who closely followed the case. Among the 55% of Americans who followed the Bragg case somewhat or very closely, 57% believe the guilty verdict was correct, while 35% believe it was not. Only 8% are unsure about the verdict’s correctness.
After the guilty verdict, 49% of Americans believe Trump should terminate his campaign, with opinions heavily divided along party lines. Within the Republican camp, a mere 16% advocate for ending his campaign, whereas 75% support its continuation. Conversely, 79% of Democrats and 52% of independents are in favor of Trump halting his campaign efforts.
Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance got into a heated debate with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer regarding former President Donald Trump’s Manhattan trial on Sunday.
The trial ended with the former president convicted on 34 felon counts connected to falsifying business records related to a non-disclosure agreement payment to adult movie star Stormy Daniels.
“My complaint is not with the jury, Wolf. My complaint is with the judge, with the jury instructions that were clearly reversible, with the fact that the judge had donated to the Biden campaign, which should force a recusal under the New York rules for the judge, the fact that his daughter has gotten wealthy off this –” the senator said.
“He donated $15 dollars in 2020 to the campaign. $15,” the anchor said.
“Please let me answer the question. This judge committed multiple elements of reversible error and he did it while his daughter has made a ton of money off of Democratic candidates and while he himself donated to the Biden campaign. You cannot say that this trial was anything more than politics, masquerading as justice. Yes, I will help Trump, and I will help Donald Trump; however, I think that I can, Wolf, because if we allow this to happen, it’s so much bigger and so much more troubling than Donald Trump. If we allow the standard that you can throw your political opponents in jail because they’re doing better than you in an election, it will be the end of this country as we know it,” the senator said.
“So you don’t think this was a fair trial at all?” the anchor said.
“No, Wolf. I do not think it was a fair trial at all. And more importantly, again, everybody’s focusing on Donald Trump, understandably, but the principle that we’re establishing applies across our politics. We’re basically saying that if you don’t like the outcome of the election or you don’t like how an election is about to transpire, you can try to throw your opponent in jail. Wolf, the entire predicated here is a paperwork violation,” the senator said.
“This was the trial organized by New York City, the district attorney in Manhattan,” the anchor said.
“After the number three person in that Biden Department of Justice joined that prosecutor’s office, and then goes after Biden’s political opponent,” the senator said.
“That’s absolutely as connected to Joe Biden. Beyond that, you had Robert de Niro showing up at a Biden campaign rally on the day of jury instructions. This has politics written all over it,” he said.
