Americans’ opinion of Trump remains relatively stable despite legal woes: Pew study

Most Americans’ view on former President Trump hasn’t changed much in the last year, according to a newly released study from the Pew Research Center.

About 63 percent of respondents had an unfavorable view of Trump and 35 percent a favorable one, nearly identical results from a poll taken in March of this year. It is also only a slight deviation from July 2022, where a previous survey found that 60 percent of people held unfavorable views and 38 percent favorable.

The results show the former president as broadly unpopular, but with a resilient reputation amid two federal indictments and multiple other federal and state investigations which could result in criminal charges.

Opinion among Democrats is identical to last year’s poll, but Trump’s favorability dropped slightly with Republican respondents, according to the survey. Two-thirds of Republican respondents currently have a favorable view of Trump, compared to three quarters last year. Similarly, unfavorable views have risen from 24 percent to 32 percent in the last year.

Trump in April pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts in connection to a six-figure payment his former fixer, Michael Cohen paid to an adult film actress. He was also indicted in June for 37 counts related to the mishandling of records at Mar-a-Lago as well as his efforts to block the government from recovering the documents. 

This week, Trump was served a target letter in a federal investigation into his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 riot on the Capitol.

He also faces an investigation in Georgia into his attempts to overturn the election in that state. That probe has empaneled a grand jury and is expected to decide on whether Trump will be charged with any crime by Sept. 1.

Despite the small slip, Trump remains far ahead in GOP presidential primary polling. He carries a 31 point lead over chief rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in national polling averages.

The Pew survey polled 8,480 people over a week in mid-July. The data has a margin of error of 1.5 points.