A clear majority of Americans in a new poll is opposed to President Trump issuing a historic self-pardon before leaving office, a possibility he has reportedly discussed with aides behind closed doors.
Sixty-eight percent of Americans are opposed the idea, according to the ABC News/Washington Post poll published Sunday. Just 28 percent support a self-pardon.
Trump has reportedly floated the idea of issuing pardons for himself and members of his family for months, while Democratic have long threatened to pursue investigations of the president’s personal finances that could potentially lead to criminal charges once he leaves office.
Those conversations reportedly ramped up in recent days following the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. Five people died, including one police officer, as a result of the chaos. Trump, who spoke to his supporters at a rally before a mob stormed the Capitol while a joint session of Congress was meeting to certify President-elect Biden’s victory, was impeached over his role in the siege.
Some of his top supporters, including Sean Hannity of Fox News, have openly urged him to pursue a self-pardon.
“The president out the door needs to pardon his whole family and himself because they want this witch hunt to go on in perpetuity. They’re so full of rage and insanity against the president,” Hannity told viewers in December.
Fifty-eight percent of respondents in the new poll also supported Twitter’s recent decision to permanently ban the president from the platform, which it did citing the risk of further violence.
“Due to the ongoing tensions in the United States, and an uptick in the global conversation in regards to the people who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, these two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks,” the company said.
The ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted between Jan. 10-13, among 1,002 adults nationwide. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.