US citizens, including half of Republicans, reject Trump’s claim of immunity.
Merely 11% of respondents to the Ipsos and Politico Magazine poll agreed with the claim made by the former president and presumed Republican nominee in his federal election subversion case, which is currently pending before the Supreme Court.
Ankush Khardori, a former federal prosecutor and Politico columnist, wrote, “The result is a positive sign for the constitutional sensibilities of the American public.” He referenced the opinion held by many legal scholars when he described Trump’s argument for immunity as “absurd as a matter of law, history, and democratic logic.”
However, Khardori noted that the poll also revealed a “sobering” finding: 46% of participants said they did not think the Supreme Court would deliver “a fair and nonpartisan ruling” in the immunity case. In his four years in office, Trump chose three right-wing justices to the court with the help of Senate Republicans.
The resulting court, which is 6-3 in favor of the right, has handed the Republicans significant wins, such as the elimination of federal rights to abortion and decisions on gun control, affirmative action, and other issues.
When the court announced last month that it would hear oral arguments over Trump’s claim of immunity, it caused a stir. The ruling moved the expected court date towards this year’s election day, delaying the trial of four charges stemming from Trump’s attempt to reverse his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential contest.
In addition, the court rejected state objections alleging that Trump had incited the January 6 uprising and therefore not be allowed to run for office under the 14th Amendment, a law passed following the American Civil War.
The Supreme Court’s popularity is still at all-time lows.
There are 84 other criminal allegations against Trump, including 10 related to election subversion in Georgia, 34 related to payments of hush money in New York, and 40 related to his retention of secret material after he left office.
Now that the former president has won a third straight Republican nomination, he is stalling his opponent on all fronts. According to 59% of participants in the Politico/Ipsos survey, Trump should go on trial in Washington before the election in his federal lawsuit involving election disruption.
Just 14% of Republicans, compared to 50% of Democrats, said they thought Trump was guilty in the New York case involving hush-money payments to adult film producer Stormy Daniels, who alleges an affair. Although it has been postponed as well, that case is still scheduled to go to trial first. According to 44% of poll participants, a conviction would not affect their chances of endorsing Trump.
More concerning for Trump is the fact that 36% of independent voters stated that they would be less inclined to support him in November if they had a conviction.