GOP support for allowing felons to be president rises after Trump conviction: Poll

Support among Republican voters for allowing convicted felons to be president has risen after former President Trump’s guilty verdict in New York last week, a new poll finds.

The survey, conducted by YouGov, comes less than a week after a jury convicted Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, of all 34 felony counts in his hush money case.

Fifty-eight percent of GOP voters said in the new survey convicted felons should be allowed to become president if they are elected. YouGov noted that just 17 percent of Republicans held that opinion in April.

Thirty-three percent of independents said a convicted felon should be able to be president, and just 12 percent of Democrats said the same in the recent poll.

The survey also found that fewer Republicans and independents now say criminality is among their least-desired traits in a president compared to a February poll.

In February, 34 percent of GOP voters said criminality was among their least desired traits. Now, 19 percent say the same. Fifty-two percent of independents said it in February, and now 38 percent say criminality is not desirable.

Democrats largely maintained their belief that criminality is a not desirable trait for a president to have.

The recent survey found that about half, 51 percent, of Americans believe Trump committed the crimes of which he was convicted: falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election.

The conviction does not prevent him from returning to the White House should he emerge victorious in November.

The survey was conducted May 31 to June 2 among 1,110 adults. It has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.