by Mary Lou Masters
Only 35 perdent of Americans believe former President Donald Trump acted illegally in regard to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against him, which began on Monday, a Tuesday poll found.
Jury selection is underway in the first of Trump’s four criminal cases, where he faces 34 felony counts over allegations related to falsifying business records when reimbursing a hush money payment to former porn star actress Stormy Daniels leading up to the 2016 election. As Trump sits in the courtroom this week, 31 percent believe Trump’s alleged actions were “unethical, but not illegal,” 14 percent argue he did “nothing wrong” and 19 percent said they “don’t know enough to say,” according to an AP/NORC poll.
Additionally, only 31 percent of Americans are “extremely” or “very confident” that the prosecution in New York is treating the former president fairly, the poll found. Roughly 20 percent are “extremely” or “very confident” that jurors, judges or the Supreme Court, respectively, can be “fair and impartial” in the cases against Trump.
On the first day of the selection process, more than 50 potential jurors were let go for not being able to be impartial, according to pool reports.
“It’s very obvious political persecution,” 46-year-old Christopher Ruff, an independent from Sanford, North Carolina, told The Associated Press. “I’m no fan of Trump in any way, shape or form. Didn’t vote for him, never will. But it’s obviously all political.”
However, 50 percent of Americans would consider Trump not fit for office if found guilty in the New York case, as well as roughly half in each of the other cases against him, according to the poll.
Trump continues to narrowly lead President Joe Biden in the RealClearPolitics (RCP) average for a 2024 rematch. The only battleground state that Biden is currently advantaged in the RCP average for is Pennsylvania by just 0.1 point.
The AP/NORC poll surveyed 1,204 American adults nationwide from April 4 to April 8 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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Mary Lou Masters is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Trump in Oval Office” by Trump White House Archived.
