Voters inclined to support the former president in his bid for a second term are not terribly bothered by the fact he is a convicted felon.
Arrest and conviction on dozens of state level offenses for falsifying his business records after paying a porn star for silence over a years-old sexual encounter ahead of the 2016 election has not cost former President Donald Trump electorally, according to an Emerson College poll released Thursday.
“Trump’s support in our polling remained the same before and after his conviction. A majority of Democrats say it makes them less likely to support Trump (51%) and a majority of Republicans (55%) say it makes them more likely to support Trump. A plurality of independents say it makes no impact (41%), while 38% are less likely to vote for Trump and 21% more likely,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said with the poll’s release.
According to the poll, if the election were held today between just the pair, Trump would beat President Joe Biden by a single point.
If the ballot is extended to include the Green Party’s Jill Stein and Independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, Trump’s slim margin of victory widens substantially and he wins by 6 points.
“With third-party candidates included on the ballot test, Trump’s support decreased two points, from 46% to 44%, and Biden’s seven points, from 45% to 38%. Six percent support Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and 1% support Cornel West and Jill Stein respectively. Nine percent are undecided,” pollsters wrote.
Many voters, according to the poll, think Trump’s recent convictions should land him jail, though not a majority of those polled.
“Regarding Trump’s July sentencing, a plurality of voters (40%) think Trump should receive prison time for his criminal conviction, 25% think he should pay a fine, and 15% think he should receive probation. Twenty percent are unsure,” pollsters wrote.
That conclusion, of course, is split along party lines, with more Democrats calling for prison-time for the former president and more Republicans more inclined to see him fined.
“Opinion on Trump’s sentence varies by party: 67% of Democrats think Trump should serve prison time, while 46% of Republicans think he should pay a fine; 42% of independents think he should serve prison time, 22% a fine, and 14% probation,” Kimball said.
Most voters, the poll shows, disapprove of the job Biden is doing, and a majority disagree with or are unsure of his recent actions regarding the U.S. Mexico border.
“President Biden holds a 37% job approval and 53% disapproval rating. A majority of voters, 55%, disapprove of Biden’s handling of the nation’s immigration policy, while a quarter of voters (25%) approve. Regarding Biden’s recent executive order preventing migrants from seeking asylum at the border once the average number of daily encounters hits 2,500, 38% approve, 39% disapprove, and 23% are unsure,” pollsters wrote.
The poll was conducted from June 3 to 5 among a sampling of 1,000 registered voters and it carries a margin of error of +/- 3.