July 28, 2023
More Trouble for Trump
NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll
As Trump’s legal troubles mount, Republican support softens…slightly.
Just ahead of new federal charges being filed against him, a majority of Americans believe Donald Trump has done “something illegal.” While an increasing majority of Democrats and independents say this, few Republicans do. But…the number of Republicans who believe he has done “nothing wrong” has dropped nine percentage points since last month.
51% of Americans say Trump has done something illegal, 27% say he’s done something unethical, but not illegal, and 19% say he’s done nothing wrong.
The percentage of Democrats saying he’s done something illegal has jumped 6 points (78% to 84%) since June while the percentage of independents has bumped up 2 points (50% to 52%) during the same period. Republicans believing this have held steady at 13%.
Republicans who say Trump has done nothing wrong dropped 9 points (50% to 41%) since our June poll.
Among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, 58% say they are more likely to back Trump if he stays in the race while 37% indicate they’d back another GOP candidate. This represents a six-percentage point drop for Trump who had the support of 64% of the same group last month.
Note the survey was fielded July 24th through July 27th, prior to the announcement Thursday afternoon of additional charges against Trump in the documents case.
"Donald Trump has proven repeatedly over the past seven years that he can hold his Republican support in the face of numerous troubles," says Lee M. Miringoff, Director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. "With these additional charges, Trump’s troubles may be catching up with him, though history does suggest otherwise."