Most Americans said they want a verdict on former President Donald Trump's federal trial on his alleged attempts to subvert the 2020 election before the upcoming general election in November, according to a new CNN poll released Monday.
Nearly half (48%) — including 52% of independents — of Americans said it's "essential" that a verdict on the Jan. 6, 2021, federal charges against Trump is reached before the 2024 election, with another 16% saying it should be decided by then.
The splits show Republicans are evenly split:
- 20% say it's essential;
- 18% say verdict should be reached;
- 39% say it doesn't matter when;
- 23% say verdict should be after election.
The poll results were finalized before Trump's federal trial in Washington, D.C., that was originally slated to begin March 4 but was postponed while his appeal on immunity makes its way through the appeals process.
The poll results also show a distrust of the Supreme Court to rule on any case stemming from the upcoming election in November. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed (23%) said they have no trust at all in the Supreme Court making the right decision on any legal cases related to the 2024 election. Just 11% said they have a great deal of trust, with 66% saying they have a "moderate" amount or "just some."
Among those with a "moderate" amount of trust, 52% of those identified as Republican vs. 36% as Democrat.
Americans' views on Trump's efforts to challenge the 2020 results remain relatively unchanged from a year and a half ago, according to CNN:
- 45% say he acted illegally;
- 32% say he acted unethically;
- 23% say he did nothing wrong.
Among Republicans, 49% said he did nothing wrong, 40% said he acted unethically and 11% said his actions were illegal.
SSRS Opinion Panel, which conducted the poll for CNN, surveyed 1,212 U.S. adults from Jan 25-30. The sampling error is +/- 3.4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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