Most Republican Iowa caucusgoers say Trump conviction would not affect support: Survey

The majority of registered voters planning to attend Republican Iowa caucuses said that they would still support former President Trump if he was convicted in one of his four criminal cases, according to a recent poll.

The latest NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll of Iowa found that 61 percent of likely GOP caucusgoers said their support for the former president would not be affected if he was convicted of a crime before November’s general election, NBC News reported. In contrast, 19 percent said they would be more likely to support Trump if he was convicted, and 18 percent said they would be less likely.

Likely caucus attendees backing GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley were the most likely to say a Trump conviction would make them less inclined to support the former president. The poll found that 56 percent of them said a Trump conviction would not change their support of the former president in November’s election, but 41 percent said it would make them less likely to back the current GOP front-runner.

Seventy percent of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s supporters said a Trump conviction would not matter in the general election, while 26 percent said it would make them less likely to vote for Trump.

Nearly 60 percent of caucusgoers backing Trump said a conviction wouldn’t change their support of the former president, but 35 percent said it would make them more likely to support Trump in the November election.

The Iowa caucuses begin Monday as Trump maintains a strong lead over his opponents. The same poll found that Trump had a 28-point lead over his closest challenger, Haley, who had garnered 20 percent of support. DeSantis was in third place with 16 percent of the vote.

The poll was conducted Jan. 7-12 among 705 registered Iowa voters planning to attend Republican caucuses and has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.