A new poll has found that Americans are basically split 50-50 over whether they believe former President Donald Trump should spend time in jail following his conviction of felony charges in the New York City hush money case.
The poll issued by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 48% of U.S. adults believe Trump should serve at least some time in jail, while 50% said he shouldn’t do any jail time.
When broken down by political affiliation, it’s not surprising that many more Democrats than Republicans believe Trump deserves jail time.
According to the poll, independents seem to be evenly divided on the question of whether Trump should go to jail — with 49% saying he should and 46% saying he shouldn’t.
Among Democrats, meanwhile, 80% believe Trump should be sentenced to jail time following his felony conviction.
A majority of Republicans believe that Trump didn’t get fair treatment from the court system and, as a result, they don’t believe he should do any time in jail.
Conversely, Democrats generally believe that prosecutors did the job they were supposed to do, and the jury members and judge treated the former president fairly throughout the trial as any other defendant.
The poll only emphasizes just how divided the country is politically about Trump’s case and about Trump in general.
Following the conviction, both parties have made Trump’s trial and subsequent conviction central about how they are campaigning to their bases.
President Joe Biden will frequently highlight the fact that Trump is the first president in U.S. history to be convicted of a felony crime. On the flip side, Trump consistently argues that the case against him was politically motivated and was orchestrated by Democrats behind the scenes.
And many Republicans around the country believe the same.
Dolores Mejia, a Republican from Arizona who is 74 years old, recently commented to The Associated Press:
“I thought it (the criminal trial) was all a sham to begin with. I wasn’t surprised he got convicted because the court was in New York, a very blue state. … It seemed like it was thoroughly stacked against him.”
Sentencing in the case was originally supposed to be held on Thursday, but that date was pushed back to September at the very earliest. That means the Republican National Convention, which opens next week, will go on before Trump’s sentencing fate is officially announced.
Despite the overwhelming support Trump enjoys from Republicans, there is a small minority of the GOP that are against him. The poll showed that 14% of GOP voters believe Trump’s conviction was just, and 12% believe he should be sentenced to jail time.
One of those people is Leigh Gerstenberger of Pennsylvania. She said of Trump:
“I knew he had a big ego and questionable values when I voted for him the first time in 2016, but I thought the mantle of the presidency would be a humbling experience for him, and I was wrong.”
