Two polls, one conducted by CBS News/YouGov and the other by ABC News/Ipsos, have revealed that recent criminal charges against former President Donald Trump have not shaken his supporters’ points of view.
One poll, published on Sunday, found that 80% of Republicans believe the charges against Trump were politically motivated, with just 9% believing politics did not motivate his indictment. In addition, another Sunday poll found that 61% of Republican voters said the indictment against Trump did not change how they viewed him.
About two in three (67%) of Republicans believe Trump should not have been charged with his mishandling of classified documents, the ABC poll found.
In the CBS poll, officials found that at least 69% of respondents believed Trump’s mishandling of classified documents is a national security risk.
Former US Vice President Mike Pence has called the indictment a “major distraction” for the American public.
"The American people deserve to know the reasons for this unprecedented action, and we also need to hear the former president's defense. Then each of us can make our own judgment on whether this is the latest example of a Justice Department working an injustice, or otherwise," Pence said at a weekend campaign stop in North Carolina.
"This is a sad day for our country. While Donald Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence, the ongoing criminal proceedings will be a major distraction. This reaffirms the need for Donald Trump to respect the office and end his campaign," he added.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 44, who is considered Trump’s most prominent rival for the White House, came to his opponent’s defense on Friday while speaking at the North Carolina Republican Party convention. The governor wondered aloud if there was a different standard for Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, in reference to her use of a private email server.
“There needs to be one standard of justice in this country. Let’s enforce it on everybody,” said DeSantis. "You can’t have one faction of society weaponizing the power of the state against factions that it doesn’t like.”